Golden Gate Bird Alliance offers more than 200 free local field trips annually all around the Bay Area. Our trips welcome birders of all skill levels, especially beginning birders. Join us for these guided trips at some of our favorite birding hotspots.

Monthly Field Trips

Full List

Monthly Birding Trips

Sign up for one of our upcoming birding field trips. Most trips are free but advanced registration is required.

Registration opens each month on the 3rd Tuesday (1pm). Trips are marked “closed” before they open and once they are full.

To cancel your registration for a free field trip please email info@goldengatebirds.org

See Upcoming Trips

GGBA Code Of Conduct & Birding Ethics

In order to keep our GGBA community (people and wildlife), feeling safe, welcome and respected please review our Code of Conduct, ABA Birding Ethics, and the NAS Guide to Ethical Bird Photography before attending our field trips.

Young birders

GGBA welcomes participants of all ages on our Field Trips.

  • Kids under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. 
  • Kids age 8 or older should be registered as a separate participant by their parent or guardian. 
  • Kids under 8 are welcome to tag along with their adult-birder present. 

Seeking Field Trip Leaders

If you’re a birder with favorite spots you’d like to share, consider joining our cadre of volunteer field trip leaders. It might sound a little scary but it’s really fun and quite easy.

We can provide training walks and mentors, help you write trip descriptions, and find background resources on birding spots. You don’t need to be able to identify every bird: You’ll be successful just by organizing an enjoyable walk at an interesting location. 

Interested? Contact Field Trip Coordinator, Chris Tarr at fieldtrips@goldengatebirds.org 

Field Trip FAQ’s

We ask that all participants register in advance to help us track our trip participation and keep our trip sizes limited to ensure all participants are able to get the most out of their birding experience.

If you’re a member of Golden Gate Bird Alliance, then we got you covered! Fill out the form on our Loaner Library Page to borrow a pair for an upcoming trip.

We welcome participants of all abilities. However, not all field trips may be accessible to an individual’s particular needs. We have included information about terrain and length in the trip details but we advise you contact the trip leader in advance to discuss your access needs. Note that for many trips, it will also be possible to turn back early, making a trip shorter.  Contact your trip leader with any questions.

If the weather is really bad, cancelling field trips is solely at the trip leader’s discretion. The trip leader will contact all trip registrants to inform them of any plans to cancel.

In order to curate the best experience for the entire field trip group, we ask that your dog friends not join us on these trips unless they serve as a legal service animal for the person participating.

If you need to cancel your registration for a fee-based field trip , please contact us at (510) 843-2222 or email info@goldengatebirds.org as soon as possible to let us know you will not be able to make it. If you cancel two weeks before the start of the trip and we can fill your spot with someone else on the waitlist, you will be reimbursed unless you would like to convert your registration fee into a donation to GGBA.

Golden Gate Bird Alliance Field Trips are sponsored by JoinBIRFA