Birding Resources

Breeding Bird Atlas

The Breeding Bird Atlas of Contra Costa County by Steven Glover is available for purchase. For each of the 161 species of the birds that breed in Contra Costa County, the book includes current and historical status, life history information, conservation  concerns, and range maps. The book also contains 56 beautiful drawings by Dana Gardner. This is a terrific book and a must have for birders.

This book is available for download in PDF format HERE.

You can also order your own personal hardcopy.
Price: $18.31 (includes shipping & taxes)

Click here to order online »

Order by Mail
Make your check payable to MDAS and mail to:

Steve Buffi
Treasurer
1564 Pyrenees Place
Walnut Creek, CA 94598

Please make sure to indicate “For Atlas”.

Injured Bird Guidance

If you find an injured bird, you should not necessarily pick it up. Please follow these guidelines, provided by Lindsay Wildlife Experience, which offers care and rehabilitation facilities for native California wildlife brought to its hospital in Walnut Creek. For more information, call Lindsay’s Wildlife Hotline at (925) 935-1978.

Mt. Diablo Audubon Society proudly offers financial support to Lindsay Wildlife Experience, as well as other groups that help injured birds, including WildCare, which serves Marin County, and International Bird Rescue, which takes on global projects, such as rehabilitating seabirds impacted by oil spills.

For additional rehabilitation center options, the Wildlife Rescue Directory is a free resource that allows anyone in the U.S. to find a licensed wildlife rehabilitator nearby simply entering their ZIP or city/state. You can check out the directory here: https://www.onthefeeder.com/wildlife-rescue-directory/.

Bird Banding

Banded birds can be occasionally seen upon close examination. These birds are being tracked for scientific purposes by a variety of sources. These two links include information about how to report banded birds.

Birding Northern California by Jean Richmond

The book Birding Northern California was written by the late Jean Richmond and published in 1985. This book is a guide to birding areas in northern California, many within 100 miles of the San Francisco Bay area. As a service to the birding community, Mt. Diablo Audubon scanned this book, see Birding Northern California by Jean Richmond Requires PDF reader

Note that the contents of Birding Northern California have not been revised since the book was published in 1985. This means that the road names and numbers, area codes, park names, etc. have not been updated. Validate all information from other sources prior to traveling to any site mentioned in this book.

Bay Area Audubon Chapters:

State and National Audubon Chapters

Partners

Organizations

Birding Websites

Backyard Gardening for Birds

Specialized Bird Groups

Rare Bird Reports

Bird Sounds

Birding Ethics

Birding Guides and Equipment

Bats

Information on West Nile Virus

Upcoming Field Trips

Sep 30

MDAS Field Trip — Outer Point Reyes

SEPTEMBER 30 @ 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM

Outer Point Reyes is a wonderful place for fall migrants, many of them Eastern passerine vagrants. You never know who’ll turn up…sightings in past years have included Blackburnians and Blackpolls; Chestnut-sided, Connecticut, Black-and-white, Magnolia, Prothonotary, Yellow-throated, and Black-throated Blues…and that’s just the warblers. We’ve also seen Yellow-green, Red-eyed and White-eyed Vireos, Orchard Orioles, Ovenbirds, American […]

Inverness CA
Oct 07

MDAS Field Trip — Birding by Bike at Clifton Court Forebay

OCTOBER 7 @ 7:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Have a bicycle, e-bike or scooter, and like to bird? Join MDAS at Clifton Court Reservoir in eastern Contra Costa County, where we will do an out-and-back biking/birding trip of approximately 10 miles on a flat, paved levee road, to see a myriad of bird species. Those who are equipped for it can also navigate […]

Discovery Bay CA
Oct 21

MDAS Field Trip — Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary/Crab Cove, Alameda

OCTOBER 21 @ 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

The millions of shorebirds that winter on San Francisco Bay make it a state and global Important Bird Area. It is part of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network and is also designated as a Wetland of International Importance under UNESCO’s Ramsar Convention. We’ll start at the viewing platform at Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary, which […]

Alameda CA
Oct 26

MDAS Field Trip — Lodi Lake & Woodbridge Preserve

OCTOBER 26 @ 9:00 AM - 1:30 PM

We’ll bird first at Lodi Lake and its riparian area alongside the Mokelumne River. Plan to see waterfowl and many bird species including Woodpeckers, White-breasted Nuthatch, Cedar Waxwing, Herons, Warblers and Wood Duck. (We’ve had Varied Thrush in the past but cannot guarantee!) From Lodi Lake we’ll move on to Woodbridge Ecological Preserve, where we’ll […]

Lodi CA
Nov 04

MDAS Field Trip — Palo Alto Baylands/Charleston Slough

NOVEMBER 4 @ 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM

We see a variety of birds on the water on this trip, that is only about a 55 minute drive from Walnut Creek. It is exciting to be on the largest tract of undisturbed marshland remaining in the San Francisco Bay. Locations include Charleston Slough, Shoreline Lake, Palo Alto Baylands, and Redwood Shores. Hike Rating: […]

Mountain View CA