Birds in the Golden Gate National Parks

Learn more about birds and birding in the parks.

 A peregrine falcon with its chicks in a rocky nest on Alcatraz Island in spring 2024.
Parks
Tune into the livestream from Alcatraz to see the fledgling Peregrine Falcon family grow before your very eyes.
Bald Eagle
Article
“This is a super exciting time for Bald Eagles in the Bay Area. We must be doing something right for Bald Eagle ecology."
Lidia D'Amico opens a window to the ocean on Alcatraz.
Gateways Article
National Park Service biologist Lidia D’Amico works, in short, for the birds.
Black and yellow peregrine falcon with white fluffy chicks in rocky nest
Conservation

All the fluffiness of the peregrine falcon chicks and their parents on Alcatraz...

In 2020, for the first time in recorded history, peregrine falcon chicks were born on Alcatraz Island. The peregrines returned in subsequent years and, in 2023, four chicks were born on the island!
GGRO Gear
Birds in the Golden Gate National Parks
Sharp-shinned Hawk Illustration by Lora Roame
Our Work
Although full interpretive talks weren’t possible in 2022, we did arrange our weekend schedules so that one GGRO staff person would also be a greeter to informally talk to people about the migration on Hawk Hill, and the results were wonderful.
Illustration of soaring Turkey Vulture looking downward.
Our Work
Beyond being widely misunderstood by the general public, Turkey Vultures are often misunderstood from an ecological perspective as well.
Illustration of bald eagle.
Our Work
The 2022 fall migration was a season of almost-recovery from COVID-19, but someone forgot to tip off the hawks, as we had one of our lowest overall counts in many years.
A Red-shouldered Hawk with brown and reddish-brown feathers looking over its shoulder, against a blue sky.
Conservation
Explore trends over 30 years of Red-shouldered Hawk migration observed at Hawk Hill.
Color-banded raptor.
Article
Red-tailed Hawks! This season was full of them. The 2018 field season ended with 342 Redtails banded-almost 100 Redtails above our 10-year average.