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California birdsCBRC Official California Checklist
This list of birds of California is a comprehensive listing of all the bird species seen naturally in the U. Two of these species are endemic , 13 were introduced by humans directly or indirectly , one species has been extirpated , and one was extirpated in the wild but its reintroduction is in progress.
Five additional species have been documented but "the CBRC could not reach a consensus as to whether records of these species involved true naturally occurring vagrants or escapes from captivity. Individuals or even flocks of many additional species have been recorded in California but these birds are assumed to be deliberately released or escaped from captivity.
In the absence of evidence of wild origin, they are not included in the CBRC list. Order : Anseriformes Family : Anatidae. The family Anatidae includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl, such as geese and swans.
These birds are adapted to an aquatic existence with webbed feet, bills which are flattened to a greater or lesser extent, and feathers that are excellent at shedding water due to special oils.
Order : Galliformes Family : Odontophoridae. The New World quails are small, plump terrestrial birds only distantly related to the quails of the Old World, but named for their similar appearance and habits. Order : Galliformes Family : Phasianidae. Phasianidae consists of the pheasants and their allies, including partridges , grouse , turkeys , and Old World quail.
These are terrestrial species, variable in size but generally plump with broad relatively short wings. Many species are gamebirds or have been domesticated as a food source for humans. Order : Podicipediformes Family : Podicipedidae. Grebes are small to medium-large freshwater diving birds. They have lobed toes and are excellent swimmers and divers. However, they have their feet placed far back on the body, making them quite ungainly on land. Order : Columbiformes Family : Columbidae.
Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills with a fleshy cere. Order : Cuculiformes Family : Cuculidae. The family Cuculidae includes cuckoos, roadrunners, and anis. These birds are of variable size with slender bodies, long tails, and strong legs.
The Old World cuckoos are brood parasites. Order : Caprimulgiformes Family : Caprimulgidae. Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal birds that usually nest on the ground. They have long wings, short legs, and very short bills. Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Their soft plumage is cryptically colored to resemble bark or leaves.
Order : Apodiformes Family : Apodidae. The swifts are small birds which spend the majority of their lives flying. These birds have very short legs and never settle voluntarily on the ground, perching instead only on vertical surfaces. Many swifts have long swept-back wings which resemble a crescent or boomerang.
Order : Apodiformes Family : Trochilidae. Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. They are the only birds that can fly backwards. Order : Gruiformes Family : Rallidae. Rallidae is a large family of small to medium-sized birds which includes the rails, crakes, coots, and gallinules. The most typical family members occupy dense vegetation in damp environments near lakes, swamps, or rivers.
In general they are shy and secretive birds, making them difficult to observe. Most species have strong legs and long toes which are well adapted to soft uneven surfaces. They tend to have short, rounded wings and to be weak fliers. Order : Gruiformes Family : Gruidae. Cranes are large, long-legged, long-necked birds.
Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back. Most have elaborate and noisy courting displays or "dances". Order : Charadriiformes Family : Recurvirostridae. Recurvirostridae is a family of large wading birds which includes the avocets and stilts. The avocets have long legs and long up-curved bills.
The stilts have extremely long legs and long, thin, straight bills. Order : Charadriiformes Family : Haematopodidae. The oystercatchers are large, obvious, and noisy plover -like birds, with strong bills used for smashing or prising open molluscs. Order : Charadriiformes Family : Charadriidae. The family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short thick necks, and long, usually pointed, wings.
They are found in open country worldwide, mostly in habitats near water. Order : Charadriiformes Family : Scolopacidae. Scolopacidae is a large diverse family of small to medium-sized shorebirds including the sandpipers, curlews, godwits, shanks, tattlers, woodcocks, snipes, dowitchers, and phalaropes. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. Different lengths of legs and bills enable multiple species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food.
Order : Charadriiformes Family : Stercorariidae. Skuas and jaegers are in general medium to large birds, typically with gray or brown plumage, often with white markings on the wings. They have longish bills with hooked tips and webbed feet with sharp claws. They look like large dark gulls, but have a fleshy cere above the upper mandible.
They are strong, acrobatic fliers. Order : Charadriiformes Family : Alcidae. Alcids are superficially similar to penguins due to their black-and-white colors, their upright posture, and some of their habits. However, they are only distantly related to the penguins and are able to fly. Auks live on the open sea, only deliberately coming ashore to nest.
Order : Charadriiformes Family : Laridae. Laridae is a family of medium to large seabirds and includes gulls, terns, kittiwakes, and skimmers. They are typically gray or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have stout, longish bills and webbed feet.
Order : Phaethontiformes Family : Phaethontidae. Tropicbirds are slender white birds of tropical oceans with exceptionally long central tail feathers. Their long wings have black markings, as does the head. Order : Gaviiformes Family : Gaviidae. Loons are aquatic birds, the size of a large duck, to which they are unrelated. Their plumage is largely gray or black, and they have spear-shaped bills. Loons swim well and fly adequately, but are almost hopeless on land, because their legs are placed towards the rear of the body.
Order : Procellariiformes Family : Diomedeidae. The albatrosses are amongst the largest of flying birds, and the great albatrosses from the genus Diomedea have the largest wingspans of any extant birds.
Order : Procellariiformes Family : Oceanitidae. The storm-petrels are the smallest seabirds, relatives of the petrels , feeding on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering. The flight is fluttering and sometimes bat -like. Until , this family's three species were included with the other storm-petrels in family Hydrobatidae.
Order : Procellariiformes Family : Hydrobatidae. Though the members of this family are similar in many respects to the southern storm-petrels, including their general appearance and habits, there are enough genetic differences to warrant their placement in a separate family.
Order : Procellariiformes Family : Procellariidae. The procellariids are the main group of medium-sized "true petrels", characterized by united nostrils with medium septum and a long outer functional primary. Order : Ciconiiformes Family : Ciconiidae. Storks are large, heavy, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long stout bills and wide wingspans.
They lack the powder down that other wading birds such as herons, spoonbills, and ibises use to clean off fish slime. Storks lack a pharynx and are mute. Order : Suliformes Family : Fregatidae. Frigatebirds are large seabirds usually found over tropical oceans. They are large, black or black-and-white, with long wings and deeply forked tails. The males have colored inflatable throat pouches.
They do not swim or walk and cannot take off from a flat surface.
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