Birds in the Golden Gate National Parks

Bald Eagle
Bald Eagle sightings in the Bay Area on the rise: Here's why

“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.
Ask a park scientist: Lidia D'Amico, the bird biologist of Alcatraz

National Park Service biologist Lidia D’Amico works, in short, for the birds.

Illustration of bald eagle.
GGRO Gear
Explore Gear
Sharp-shinned Hawk Illustration by Lora Roame
GGRO 2022 Season Summary: Outreach

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.
GGRO 2022 Season Summary: Turkey Vulture Study

Beyond being widely misunderstood by the general public, Turkey Vultures are often misunderstood from an ecological perspective as well.

Illustration of bald eagle.
GGRO 2022 Season Summary: Hawkwatch

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.
30 Years of Red-shouldered Hawk Migration

Explore trends over 30 years of Red-shouldered Hawk migration observed at Hawk Hill.

Color-banded raptor.
Color bands on hawks: What they mean and why they matter

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.

Black and yellow peregrine falcon with white fluffy chicks in rocky nest
Fledge spotting: Peregrine falcon pair nesting on Alcatraz island

For the first time in recorded history, peregrine falcons have nested on Alcatraz Island!  After months of observating the pair, park biologists have spotted two fledglings.

Cooper's Hawk nest
When is Migration, When is Nesting?

The autumn raptor migration at the Golden Gate runs August through December. The spring migration is late February through May. So how is it that my neighborhood Bay Area Redtails are nesting in April? Shouldn’t they be migrating north? How exactly does the hawk breeding season fit between May and August?

© 2025 Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. All rights reserved.