These glossy jet-black birds are readily seen year-round throughout Alameda and are actually quite remarkable. They are excellent fliers and among the most intelligent birds. Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest honored the Raven, as both a trickster and a creator god.

San Juan Capistrano has its swallows, celebrated when they return to nest every year. Alameda has its own iconic bird, the California Least Terns, that every year migrates back to their nesting grounds at Alameda Point on a reserve that was once a runway for the former Naval Air Station.

Melanerpes formicivorus (genus of woodpecker, anteater)