Birding in the Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area supports a highly diverse population of birds. Two features of our geography account for this. First, the Bay Area lies within a "superhighway" used by millions of migratory birds, the Pacific Flyway.

Secondly, the Bay Area estuary is fed by the drainage of the San Joaquin and Sacramento river systems, contributing to the abundance of plants and invertebrates that birds that rely on.

Thanks to its 32 miles of shoreline, Richmond is a great place for birding. Our Bay Trail system meanders through a variety of ecosystems, offering opportunities for seeing everything from Burrowing Owls to Clapper Rails to Peregrine Falcons.

In fact, those 3 species—plus some 44 others— were spotted over the course of a 2-hour walk one January morning from Shimada Friendship Park, southeast to Meeker Slough, and back around to the Marina Bay harbor.

Migrating shorebirds are especially reliant on Bay Area wetlands. For example, about 90% of all American Avocets on the west coast of the contiguous U.S. live here during part of the year.

The Golden Gate Audubon Society offers more than 100 field trips annually for birders of all levels. Most of these trips are within a one hour drive from Richmond.