Raptors in the Concrete Jungle

You’ve heard the gossip; you’ve seen the headlines. In recent years, Bay Area Bald Eagles built nests in a school yard in Milpitas, in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, and on an Alameda golf course. Peregrine Falcons have called UC Berkeley’s Campanile Tower home along with other buildings and bridges from San Jose to Mill Valley. Osprey nests line the East Bay shoreline from Hayward to Vallejo, and as many as eight other raptor species breed annually in our municipal midst! Isn’t this wonderful?

Well — yes and no. City living isn’t always a bed of roses for a bird of prey. The list of hawk headaches is long. Think about wires, windows, poisons, cars, electrocution, entanglement, and disease. In his August 20th talk, ecologist Allen Fish will give accounts of the real lives of Bay Area raptors, both their feats and their fiascos. But he also raises a key question: now that raptors are in our cities, how might we all do a better job — from city-planning to gardening — to benefit birds of prey?

About Our Speaker

Berkeley resident, bird ecologist and writer Allen Fish was director of the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory for four decades, and a lecturer in Raptor Biology at UC Davis. Scientific advisor to Cal Falcons and Raptors Are The Solution, Allen has studied birds of prey in California, but also in Mexico, Taiwan, France, Spain, and Scotland. He has authored or co-authored dozens of scientific and layperson articles on raptor ecology and migration. Allen’s most recent article “Putting on Moth Goggles” appeared in the Bay Nature, Spring 2026 issue.

Date: Thursday, August 20
Time: 7pm
Location: The Tamalpais Room at the David Brower Center (2150 Allston Way, Berkeley) + online via Zoom

If you plan to attend in-person, please rsvp in advance here!

Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88343878634?pwd=PQaRkgBLUm4GqOrljbRv0CRDukrGgB.1

Featured Photo: Bald Eagles / Skye Ocoranza