Complete field guide to every bird species recorded in California. Browse by name, filter by taxonomic family or order, and tap any species for photos, range maps, songs, and identification tips.
All sighting data is sourced from eBird, the world's largest citizen science database for birds. Use this guide to discover what birds live in California, learn their calls, and plan birding trips to the best hotspots in the region.
California's state list is the longest in the nation — roughly 700 species — and the variety behind that number is staggering: Pacific seabird colonies and world-class pelagic trips, Sierra Nevada conifer forests, Mojave and Colorado desert oases, the Central Valley's wintering waterfowl millions, and a coastline that catches vagrants from both Asia and the American tropics.
The state also has birds all its own. Yellow-billed Magpie lives nowhere on Earth but California's oak savannas, Island Scrub-Jay is confined to a single Channel Island, and the recovering wild population of California Condors soars over Pinnacles and Big Sur. Whatever month you visit, something here is peaking.
Loading...
Where to bird in California
Point Reyes National Seashore
The most famous vagrant trap on the West Coast: fall brings eastern warblers to the outer point's cypress groves, while resident Spotted Owls, Tufted Puffins offshore, and winter raptors keep it busy year-round.
Monterey Bay
The submarine canyon brings deep water — and its birds — close to shore. Pelagic trips out of Monterey and Half Moon Bay tally shearwaters, storm-petrels, jaegers, and albatrosses; Black-footed Albatross is near-guaranteed in season.
Salton Sea
Hot, strange, and unmissable: tens of thousands of waterbirds, wintering Mountain Plovers and Sandhill Cranes, Yellow-footed Gull (the only reliable US site), and Burrowing Owls on the agricultural margins.
Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex
The Central Valley in winter is one of the hemisphere's great waterfowl spectacles — millions of Snow and Ross's Geese, Tundra Swans, and raptor-lined auto loops.
Big Morongo Canyon Preserve
A desert oasis where Mojave and Sonoran birds meet: Vermilion Flycatcher, Summer Tanager, and spring migrant waves, with Joshua Tree National Park's LeConte's Thrasher country next door.
Yosemite & the High Sierra
Great Gray Owl meadows, White-headed Woodpeckers, Sooty Grouse, and Clark's Nutcrackers — summer birding among the continent's most dramatic scenery.
Channel Islands National Park
The Santa Cruz Island boat ride doubles as a pelagic trip, and the island itself holds the entire world population of Island Scrub-Jay.
Pinnacles National Park
The most accessible place to watch wild California Condors — check the High Peaks at dawn — plus oak-woodland specialties like Yellow-billed Magpie en route.
Klamath Basin
On the Oregon border: the largest wintering Bald Eagle concentration in the lower 48 and staggering waterfowl numbers during migration.
California birding by season
Spring (March–May) — Migration on every front
Desert oases flush with migrants, coastal headlands stream with loons and Brant, and the mountain birds return to territory. April desert mornings and May Sierra meadows are both at their best.
Summer (June–August) — Seabirds and the high country
Pelagic season begins in earnest, alcid and tern colonies are feeding young, and the High Sierra opens up — this is Great Gray Owl and mountain-meadow time.
Fall (August–November) — Vagrant season
The coast's magic months: peak pelagic diversity in September–October and eastern vagrants at Point Reyes and the desert oases. California birders live for October.
Winter (December–February) — Geese by the million
The Central Valley and Klamath Basin fill with waterfowl and eagles, the Salton Sea peaks, and coastal estuaries stack with shorebirds and rarities like Pacific Golden-Plover.
All 900 bird species recorded in California
Every species on this list has been recorded in California on eBird. Tap any bird for photos, range maps, songs, and identification tips.