Wildlife Species of San Francisco Bay Area

Black-tailed Deer - Odocoileus hemionus (Mount Diablo State Park)


Common Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula (Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline)


Ring-necked Pheasant - Phasianus colchicus (Palo Alto Baylands)

Mylitta Crescent - Phyciodes mylitta (Mount Diablo State Park)

Endangered and Rare Species

We are fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on your point of view), to have a number of species which are rare and threatened with extinction. Some of them are holding their own in smaller numbers while others are declining in the face of many threats like habitat loss and pollution.  ...more 

Mammals

The Bay area is home to a variety of mammals ranging from common ones like the California Ground Squirrel to rare ones like the San Joaquin Kit Fox. It includes land mammals like the Black-tailed Deer, marine mammals like the Harbor Seal and flying ones like bats. There are over 50 species.  ...more 

Marine Mammals have their own page.  ...more 

Birds

The bird life found here includes varieties and numbers that are astounding. The excellent wetland habitat provided by the bay itself supports a wealth of waterfowl. Over a 100 species of birds can easily be found here and dedicated birders have seen over 250.  ...more 

Reptiles

Reptiles of the area include a variety of snakes, lizards and the Western Pond Turtle. This includes rare and endangered species like the Alameda Striped Racer (Alameda Whipnake).  ...more 

Amphibians

Amphibian variety found here includes frogs, toads, and salamanders.  ...more 

Salamanders (Caudata) have their own page.  ...more 

Fish

Fish variety found here includes sharks, rays, other oceanic fish, salmon, and other freshwater fish.  ...more 

Insects

A fascinating variety of insects including beetles, bees, wasps, ants and grasshoppers. Butterflies and dragonflies get their own pages. ...more 

Butterflies and Moths

Butterflies are the stars of the insect world and over a 150 species of Butteflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) can be found here. There is much less information available about Moths.  ...butterflies   ...moths 

Dragonflies

Dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) are fascinating insects and about 38 species can be found here.  ...more 

Spiders

There is not a lot of information available about local spiders. Spiders are not insects, they are arachnids but come under the general moniker "bugs".  ...more 

Scorpions

It is not well known that several species of scorpions are found in the Bay area. Scorpions are not insects, they are arachnids but come under the general moniker "bugs".  ...more 

Crabs

Most of the information on the web about crabs seems to be related to their being a food item. ...more 

Other Invertebrate Species

There are several interesting species which do not fit into any of the more familiar and popular groups. These are collected in a page of their own. They are all invertebrates.  ...more