Back to Animals of the San Marcos Foothills

Click on a link below (or scroll down) to view photos and other info on the most common birds of the San Marcos Foothills. Or, click on these links for additional topics on:

Birds of the San Marcos Foothills

Complete list of bird species seen on the San Marcos Foothills
"*" denotes species introduced to California
Download this list

Ciconiiformes (Bitterns, Egrets, Vultures)

Green Heron

Cattle Egret

Turkey Vulture

Anseriformes (Ducks)

Mallard

Falconiformes (Falcons, Hawks, and relatives)

White-tailed Kite

Northern Harrier

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Cooper's Hawk

Zone-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawk

American Kestrel

Merlin

Galliformes (Turkeys, Pheasants, Quails)

California Quail

Charadriiformes (Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers)

Killdeer

Whimbrel

Long-billed Curlew

Marbled Godwit

Caspian Tern

Columbiformes (Pigeons and Doves)

Rock Dove *

Band-tailed Pigeon

Mourning Dove

Eurasian Collared Dove *

Cuculiformes (Cuckoos, Roadrunners, and Anis)

Greater Roadrunner

Strigiformes (Owls)

Barn Owl

Western Screech Owl

Great Horned Owl

Northern Pygmy Owl

Burrowing Owl

Caprimulgiformes (Nighthawks, Poorwills)

Common Poorwill

Apodiformes (Swifts, Hummingbirds)

Black Swift

Vaux's Swift

White-throated Swift

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbird

Costa's Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Allen's Hummingbird

Piciformes (Woodpeckers, Sapsuckers)

Acorn Woodpecker

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Nuttall's Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Passeriformes (perching birds)

Western Wood-Pewee

Willow Flycatcher

Pacific-slope Flycatcher

Black Phoebe

Say's Phoebe

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Western Kingbird 

Cassin's Kingbird

Loggerhead Shrike

Hutton's Vireo

Warbling Vireo

Western Scrub-Jay

American Crow

Horned Lark

Tree Swallow

Violet-green Swallow

N. Rough-winged Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Barn Swallow

Common Raven

Oak Titmouse

Verdin

Bushtit

White-breasted Nuthatch

American Creeper

Winter Wren

Rock Wren

Canyon Wren

Bewick's Wren

House Wren

Marsh Wren

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Townsend's Solitaire

Hermit Thrush

American Robin

Varied Thrush

Wrentit

Northern Mockingbird

California Thrasher

European Starling *

American Pipit

Cedar Waxwing

Phainopepla

Orange-crowned Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Townsend'sWarbler

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Wilson's Warbler

Western Tanager

Spotted Towhee

California Towhee

Rufous-crowned Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow

Lark Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Grasshopper Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Lincoln's Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Black-headed Grosbeak

Blue Grosbeak

Lazuli Bunting

Red-winged Blackbird

Tricolored Blackbird

Western Meadowlark 

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Great-tailed Grackle

Brown-headed Cowbird

Hooded Oriole

Bullock's Oriole

Purple Finch

House Finch

Lesser Goldfinch

Lawrence's Goldfinch

American Goldfinch

Scaly-breasted Munia