Birding

East Comes West

San Francisco to Protect Birds from Flying into Buildings

​Unless you're part of a small cadre of environmental activists, the danger posed to birds by high-rise buildings is probably not an issue in the forefront of your mind. Unless, of course, you are a member of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, which just saw fit to pass a new set of development ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

​Unless you're part of a small cadre of environmental activists, the danger posed to birds by high-rise buildings is probably not an issue in the forefront of your mind. Unless, of course, you are a member of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, which just saw fit to pass a new set of development ... More >>

Spotting Birds at a Record Pace, with a Camera and a Bike

​Unless you're part of a small cadre of environmental activists, the danger posed to birds by high-rise buildings is probably not an issue in the forefront of your mind. Unless, of course, you are a member of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, which just saw fit to pass a new set of development ... More >>

Video: Challenging 24-Hour Urban Birding Record

This week my column chronicles a team of West Coast birders who attempt to break the record for spotting the most species in San Francisco in a 24-hour span.As of 5:30 a.m. on April 18, the record was 149 species, which was set in 2007 by birdwatchers in a car. And the record for those birders on bi ... More >>

Palace of Fine Arts Has New Tenants -- Barn Owls

They're cute when they're young.​Many people know about the great horned owl family living on Strawberry Hill in the middle of Stow Lake. But did you know barn owls -- the ghostly-looking birds with white, heart-shaped faces -- are making a family at the Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina?Josi ... More >>

Winged Migration

They're cute when they're young.​Many people know about the great horned owl family living on Strawberry Hill in the middle of Stow Lake. But did you know barn owls -- the ghostly-looking birds with white, heart-shaped faces -- are making a family at the Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina?Josi ... More >>

Local Warming: Climate change comes to S.F.

They're cute when they're young.​Many people know about the great horned owl family living on Strawberry Hill in the middle of Stow Lake. But did you know barn owls -- the ghostly-looking birds with white, heart-shaped faces -- are making a family at the Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina?Josi ... More >>

Whose Feathered Friends? Our Feathered Friends!

They're cute when they're young.​Many people know about the great horned owl family living on Strawberry Hill in the middle of Stow Lake. But did you know barn owls -- the ghostly-looking birds with white, heart-shaped faces -- are making a family at the Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina?Josi ... More >>

Local Audobon Society Looking for S.F. Volunteers: Collect, Count Dead Birds -- at 5 a.m.

Second to Col. Sanders, flying into windows is the major cause of death for North American birds. The Audobon Society estimates it may claim 100 million or more of our feathered friends yearly. Now they're hoping San Franciscans will help them count. At 5 a.m. "They keep the streets pretty clean in ... More >>

Bush Pardons a Bunch of Drug Dealers

Second to Col. Sanders, flying into windows is the major cause of death for North American birds. The Audobon Society estimates it may claim 100 million or more of our feathered friends yearly. Now they're hoping San Franciscans will help them count. At 5 a.m. "They keep the streets pretty clean in ... More >>

Look, Up in the Sky

Second to Col. Sanders, flying into windows is the major cause of death for North American birds. The Audobon Society estimates it may claim 100 million or more of our feathered friends yearly. Now they're hoping San Franciscans will help them count. At 5 a.m. "They keep the streets pretty clean in ... More >>

Parks Reborn

Celebrate a shoreline renaissance

Rock Doves

They have pink hair, they love birds, and now there's an art exhibit just for them

Best Flora

Blooming Wildflowers at Menzies Native Plant Garden

Whirly Birds

The wind-power entrepreneurs at Kenetech have spent millionsin vain tosolve this avian mystery: Why have hundredsof raptors, including golden eagles, died alongside the windmills of Altamont Pass?