Double crested cormorant: large, brown. Feet towards back near tail. Webbed feet, stiff tail. Long serrated break. Flies under water to catch fish. Seabird



Snowy Egret: dark bill, yellow feet, long narrow bill for fish/crabs. Wetlands med sized




Marbled Godwit: Shore bird, probe under mud/sand. Marbled plumage. Long beak med sized


American crow: perching bird, very common med sized


Lightfooted Clapperrail: reddish brown with an orange beak. Endangered lives in coastal wetlands in CA. Medium sized


American Coot: med sized, dark. Feet are lobed, flapped with skin, not fully webbed. Wetland.



Western Grebe: Flapped feet, dark back, white belly. Pointy bill, fairly long slightly turned up. Fish hunter. Long neck. Large



Ruddy Duck: water fowl, broad flattened bill, come along the outside edge of bill to sift food. Small duck. Stiffed tailed



Great horned owl: Talons, stoat bills with hooks, big eyes. Feathered tuffs on top of head looks like horns or ears.



Barn owl: smaller than horned owl, light brown/orange around face. Brown back, white underbody. Fly without making any noise. Large wings for their bodies. Sharp talons, stoat hooked beak. Facial disk is light.


American Avocet: Shore bird, long legged waiter, Black wings, white belly. Long thin, upturned beak. Takes organisms off the surface of the water. Medium sized



Mallard: males have a lot more color than the female. White neck right, greenish/blue head. Flat broad bill. Webbed feat. Gray top, black wing tips, w/ white patch between brown and black. Brown chest, white belly. Large


Western gull(seagull): dark gray mantle (top), other is white. Large. Omnivorous and clever


Forester’s Tern: smaller streamlined gulls. Black, gray and white. Black lore, white body, gray wings. Plug divers. Partially webbed feet.



Canada Goose: mid sized bird, small goose. Black neck, white throat. Black head. Brown body, black tail.



Long billed Curlew: large shore bird, very long curved bill. Brown in color


Black necked stilt: long legged waiter Surface gleaner, little invertebrates in mudflats near or in shallow water. Shore bird.



Belted king fisher: Belted around chest in brown. Crown of black feathers. White throat, black head, brown body Shallow water plunge diver. Med to small



Red tailed hawk: most common bird of pray in CA. Red tail. Brown body. White under body. Hooked bill Darker belly band. large



California Quail: male: gray bodied, marbled under body, white and black top female: brown seed eaters. Top knot on its head small



Hummingbird: females are only green gray and white, males have more color. Insect eaters, nectar. Anna’s hummingbird: red throat.


Costa’s humming bird: white shin, purple throat


American Kestrel: smallest falcon Hooked bill. Day time bird of pray, blue wing and crown. Tip of tail feathers are white. Eat large insects and small mammals.



Long-Billed Dowitcher: Long legs for its sized, long contrasting bird white eye stripe med.



Northern Flicker: Largest so cal coastal wood peckers Stoat somewhat elongated beak. Still tail. Orange under the tail feathers. Black breast. White throat Zygodactilic feet (X pattern). Smallish. Orange underside to wings. Spotted breast, black banded chest.




Mourning Dove: Pigeon and dove group. Little bulb on the end of the bill Call sounds like it is in mourning. Dark colored, smallish Produces milk that it feels its young. Eats seeds and grain, which is ground up to produce milky substance. Mostly nests in riparian habitat


Brown headed cowbird: insect eating beak. Medium sized perching bird. Small general bird. Nest parasites. Lighter head for the rest of the body.



European Starling: cavity nester, insect eater, Iridescent black plumage.



Northern Mockingbird: mimic, mimics a lot of sounds. Dark brown top. , white chest. Insect and berry eaters.



California Towhee: Med sized perching bird. Small. Hunts for insects on the bird Brown with speckling on throat and reddish. Long tailed.



Song Sparrow: Wetland perching bird. Omnivorous insect and seed. Small light brown a little bit of blue. Lighter under body



House finch: Small red crown, red breast and lore. Insect and seed eater.



Common Yellow throat warbler: male has black mask, yellow throat. Insect eating bill. Green yellow and black mixed in. Small



Yellow Rumped warbler: winter resident. Small, insect eater. Yellow rump patch, lower chest, chin, and top of the head.



Bushtit: Smallest native bird other than the humming bird, long tail, small terite bill, common in chaparral and riparian habitat



Beewix’s wren: insect eater, terite bill. Small perching bird. Little hairlines on tail. White eye stripe.



Loggerhead shrike: impales insects and small mammals, perching bird


Western sandpiper: shorebird, long bill, no green, white belly, brown, gray and black. Invertebrate prober.



Kill deer: shorebird, high pitch sound. Small/medium. Gleans insects. Nests in gravelly places.



CA Thrasher: Perching bird, long tail. Mimic bird curved bill, stoat. Brown, darker on top, lighter brown belly. White chin.



Red winged black bird, Black, red shoulder. Fresh water marsh. Insect eater. Rests in the reeds. Small



Scrub jay: mostly blue with brown mantle, gray under body. White eye brows. Perching bird, large perching bird. Shrub lands and riparian.



Cactus wren: biggest of the three wrens. Still a small bird. Pin stripes on the tail. Insect eater. Marbled throat. Desert



Western King Bird: one of three species in so cal. Jellow belly, red forhead. Outer tail feathers have white tail. Fly catcher. Broad and flat. Gray head and back, brown feathers, dark tails. Med sized perching bird.



House sparrow: non native. Pet trade. Member of weaver finch. White belly. Gray head, marbled throat. Sexual dimorphism, males have black chin. Small



Ruby Crowned Kinglet: smallest winter resident. Ruby spot on top. Gray bird. Insect eating bill. Greenish gray back, whitest gray on chest. White wing bars when flying around (can’t see it)



American gold finch: Closely related to warblers. Gold Finch. Three species in so cal. Bright yellow chest, blat of black on the forehead. Yellow mixes with gray. Perching bird. Insect/seed eating.



Blackheaded grosbeak: black head, brown/orange underbody/ring around the throat. Black back/wings. Seed eater. Summer resident



Western Tanager: Small perching bird, nomads. Yellow breast/belly throat neck. Red face. Black feathers. Sometimes nests on coast. Insect eater



Cliff Swallow, aerial acrobat, broad and small beaks for catching insects midair. Capistrano swallow.



Horn lark: Coastal bird and in deserts black stripes ear tuffs. Black spot on head. Black lore. Brown top, white under body. Nests in open. Insect eater



Black Phoebe: nests near water in ledges Mud nest. Insect feeder, eats midair. White belly otherwise all black.




Cedar Wax wing: yellow tips of tail feather. Mohawk. Mostly brown, black wing tips, red strip near end of feathers. Insect also eats berries




Nuttall’s woodpecker: Salt and pepper on back in striped arrangement insects and grubs in woodlands



Downy woodpecker: white patch between wings on back. Mostly black. Willow woodland. Smallish. Insects and grubs.