Animals and Habitats - Guadalupe River Park Conservancy

Wildlife Series
Learning Resource Guide
Online Resources
Access 2 Nature, Santa Clara County Parks
An interactive website run by Santa Clara County Parks that allows children to learn about creek
habitats. The site provides graphics, information, and fun activities that you can do at home to
continue the experience.
http://secure.tapinsolutionsinc.com/access2nature/home.html
Animals, Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Website run by the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which gives information and photos
on amphibians, birds, insects, other invertebrates, mammals, and reptiles that live in the San
Francisco Bay Area.
http://www.nps.gov/goga/naturescience/animals.htm
Articles about Local Wildlife, Bay Nature
Bay Nature, an environmental advocacy group for the Bay Area which publishes a quarterly
magazine, has an extensive archive of current and past articles on local nature topics, including
wildlife.
http://baynature.org/articles
Audubon at Home
Informative website run by the Audubon Society that gives information about birds, habitat
conservation, environmental education, and local Audubon Society events.
http://athome.audubon.org/
California Wildlife Viewing, Department of Fish and Game
Information about how and where to view various animal species, including bald eagles and
western pond turtles.
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/viewing/
Education, Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley
The Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley provides information and photos about wildlife in San
Jose, including how you can co-exist with wildlife and how to plant a garden that will sustain
wildlife in your backyard.
http://www.wcsv.org/education/
Endangered Species in the Bay Area, NDRC Green Gate
Information on endangered species in the Bay Area, including a list of federally endangered
species and tips on how you can help out.
http://www.nrdc.org/greengate/wildlife/endangeredf.asp
Books
Bouge, Gary. There’s a Hummingbird in My Backyard. Heyday Books, 2010
A children’s book where “a family learns to interpret the mysterious ways of the hummingbirds
in their backyards.”
http://www.heydaybooks.com/children/theres-a-hummingbird-in-my-bac.html
Bouge, Gary. There’s an Opossum in My Backyard. Heyday Books, 2007
A children’s book where “a friendly opossum finds adventure in a family’s backyard.”
http://www.heydaybooks.com/children/theres-an-opossum-in-my-backya.html
Califauna: A Literary Field Guide. Terry Beers and Emily Elrod, Ed. Heyday Books, 2007.
An anthology of California literature blended with nature guide, Califauna is an anthology of
California literature within a nature guide. Each chapter focuses on a different wildlife species
found in California, giving scientific information about the species’ taxonomy, habitat, and
lifestyle, coupled with an excerpt of literature written about that species.
http://www.heydaybooks.com/literature/califauna-a-literary-field-gui.html
George, Jean Craighead. My side of the Mountain. Puffin Books, 2004
A classic children’s novel written about a boy who runs away to the Catskill mountains to live in
the wilderness.
Laws, John Muir. The Law’s Pocket Guide Set: San Francisco Bay Area.
Heyday Books, 2010.
This set contains four fold-out, durable guides to identify plants and wildlife in these Bay Area
habitats: at the beach and on the bay; near creeks, rivers, and ponds, on grassy hills and in
fields, and among the oaks and pines.
http://www.heydaybooks.com/guides-and-reference/the-laws-pocket-guide-set-san.html
Paulson, Gary. Hatchet. Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 2007
Another classic children’s novel about a teenage boy who is stranded in the Canadian wilderness and has to learn how to survive.
Scammon, Charles Melville. The Marine Mammals of the Northwest Coast of North
America. California Legacy Project, 2007.
Although Scammon is a notorious whaler, his book documents marine mammals in the Pacific,
and is considered a classic natural history text. First published in 1872, the guide has provided
naturalists with valuable insights into marine life in the Bay Area before modern industry
changed the habitat.
http://www.heydaybooks.com/nature/marine-mammals-of-the-northwes.html
Stienstra, Tom. California Wildlife: A Practical Guide. Foghorn Outdoors, 2000
Tom Stienstra, a popular nature writer and contributer to the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote
this helpful guide to California wildlife.
Photos and Videos
Photos of Bay Area Wildlife, Bay Area Hiker
Photos of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, spiders, and butterflies found in local parks.
http://www.bahiker.com/critter.html
Secrets of the Bay. Dir. Chris Beaver and Judy Irving.
Independent Documentary Group, 1990.
A documentary that explores the biodiversity of plants and wildlife in the Bay Area.
http://cbfilms.net/secrets.html
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. Dir. Judy Irving. Pelican Media, 2006.
A documentary about Marc Bittner, a homeless musician living in San Francisco, and the flock
of wild parrots that changed his life.
Videos of Local Wildlife, Bay Nature
This website contains videos created by Bay Nature for public television that highlight wildlife
and other topics in local preserves.
http://baynature.org/videos