Birds

The Duck Family by Len Blumin

The True Ducks are grouped into subfamilies, roughly according to evolutionary relationships (see inside back cover). Current taxonomy sorts them into Dabbling Ducks, Bay (Diving) Ducks, Sea Ducks, Stiff-tails and Whistling Ducks, a schema that will be observed in this book. Swans and Geese are grouped into their own subfamilies and tribes.

Shorebirds by Len Blumin

Shorebirds are a group of specialized bird families that seen mostly along our coasts and at interior wetlands. A few have evolved to forage in upland areas. They number 210+ species worldwide, with about 50 species breeding regularly in North America.

Bird Arrival and Departure Dates

These dates indicate the approximate arrival and departure times of migrants commonly seen in Marin County.

Birding Locations

This list describes many of the better birding sites in Marin County and includes sites mentioned in rarity reports.

Ways to Improve Your Birding Skills

Advice on planning, optics, dress, field guides and more.

Checklist of the Birds of Marin County

This list is a must for any serious birder. It shows the seasonal abundance patterns of all bird species in Marin.

Christmas Bird Count

Join Marin County birders for a day of fun and birding on our annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count.

Junior Birdwatchers

In this program school children learn about native birds found in their local San Francisco Bay area neighborhood.

Monthly Birdlog by Josiah Clark

Trip reviews, observations and locations from our expert birder.

Bird Photo Galleries

Fantastic photographs of birds from our own photographers.

Birding Quiz

On birdingquiz.com, you will find many photo quiz options that will help you learn to recognize birds in an area you select, including Marin County. The bird photos are selected randomly, so for any particular bird species you will see pictures of females, males, juveniles, breeding plumages, winter plumages. etc. You can take the same quiz multiple times, and you will get different bird photos each time.

Birdingquiz.com was created by local birder Jim Gray.