Birds

This is a place to find information about birds of our region

Rollo Beck

Rollo Howard Beck (1870-1950) was a remarkable world traveler whose hands-on fieldwork added immeasurably to the base of ornithological knowledge. In the early-to-mid 20th century, the native Californian obtained and preserved tens of thousands of specimens and collected data for some of the most important bird collections in the world. Institutions including The Natural History Museum in Tring, England, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York, California Academy of Sciences (CAS) in San Francisco, and Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) at the University of California, Berkeley hold Beck specimens.
Many of the mounted specimens in the Monterey County Birds exhibit at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History (PGMNH) are also Beck's work.

Visit the Online Rollo Beck Exhibit

Audubon Society Monthly Meeting

Hear from the expert birding community at the monthly meeting of the Monterey Audubon Society. To find this month's speaker look at the Museum's Event Calendar.

All monthly Audubon meetings are held at the Pacific Grove Museum on the second Tuesday of the month. All meetings are free and members and non-members are welcome! Doors open at 7:00 PM with soft drinks and cookies provided by MAS hospitality. Program begins at 7:30. Please join us--and bring a friend!

Monterey Audubon has been devoted to the understanding, conservation and enjoyment of Central California's birdlife since 1943. We strive to connect communities and individuals to the region's avifauna through educational programs and outdoor recreation. As a chapter of America's oldest conservation group we are also committed to advocacy on behalf of native avifauna and ecosystems as well as the implementation of stewardship practices which conserve and restore the Monterey region's precious biological diversity and wildlife.

The Museum's Bird Collection

The Museum showcases one of the most extensive bird collections on display on the West Coast. Use the Museum's bird collection of 291 bird species and 409 life mounted birds to identify the birds you’ve seen throughout Monterey County. Witness the size of a mighty California Condor, the Yellow-billed Magpie, Lawrence's Goldfinch, and the Tri-colored Blackfinch, to name a few.

The Museum's strong bird collection reflect's the fact that Monterey County is one of the most important sites for bird life in North America. It is one of the top 5 destinations in North America to bird watch. Monterey County has one of the highest single-day bird counts in the country. 482 different species of birds have been sighted in Monterey County.

This rich bird sighting experience reflects the huge diversity of habitats in this area – the most accessible within a single day trip. Its coastal wetlands support thousands of birds and dozens of species that migrate along the Pacific Flyway. Many migrating birds reach Monterey wetlands from breeding areas in the Arctic. These birds spend the winter here or pause before continuing their trip to Mexico, Central and South America. Others come from breeding areas on the American prairies, inland lakes and marshes of the southwest, or even the Gulf of California. The Monterey coastline is also second-to-none when it comes to spotting Pelagic (open seas or ocean) birds.