Connecting People with Birds
Our mission is to share the fun of birding, promote conservation and scientific understanding of wild birds and their habitats, and offer engaging, science-based education emphasizing the communities of Napa and Solano counties.
Learn more about us
Get Involved
Napa-Solano Birds is predominantly a volunteer organization. To make our programs successful we need membership involvement in all of our activities. Donating even a few hours of time can help a lot. There are all sorts of fun ways to get involved – from helping out with a classroom visit, bird walk or special event, to monitoring your own area for breeding birds.
Bird Family Galleries
Welcome to Napa Solano Audubon Society!
Bird of the Week – Yellow-billed Loon
Returning for the 3rd Year to Bodega Bay
Select to learn more about this bird
Upcoming Field Trips – All Members, Family & Friends of NSAS are Welcome to Join!
Field Trip Announcements: Beware our Field Trip eBlasts may end up in your Spam Folder!
Weekly Field Trips to Napa & Solano County Hotspots with Andrew Ford
NSAS offers Weekly Bird Walks on Saturday mornings with Andrew Ford to birding hotspots in Napa or Solano County, beginning at 8 a.m. and ending around noon. Come join in all the fun and have a great morning learning about birds. To look at some of our favorite weekly walk outings see Saturday Walks! A typical trip attracts approximately 20 birders. Through the seasons we try to catch the local “spectacles” of birding: spring shorebirds at American Canyon, winter raptors and Mountain Plovers in the Solano prairie, or fall warblers at Lagoon Valley. Locations are subject to change due to the changing of bird population and influx of migrants.
Beginner Field Trips to American Canyon Wetlands with Karina Garcia, Carol Boykin and Tom Slyker
So, if you are dipping a toe into birding, or dusting off a pair of binoculars for the first time in a while and you want some company as you learn about birding, we’d be delighted to have you join us for our Beginners Bird Walks. We hold Beginner’s Walks at the American Canyon Wetlands Edge Park on two Sundays each month beginning at 9:00 a.m. No reservations are necessary, just plan to show up and enjoy being outdoors for a little while. Sign up for Field Trip Notices by clicking on the Activity Sign-up Button at the top of our Home Page or Check our Calendar for the next Beginner’s Bird Walk. These walks are open to birders of all levels and ages. It’s free, it’s fun, and loaner binoculars are on hand if you need them. Napa Solano Audubon membership is not required. Karina Garcia, Carol Boykin, and Tom Slyker lead these walks. They are citizen science volunteers and participate in the Napa Solano Audubon’s CA Birdseasons project at this wetlands park location. NSAS has been monitoring birds at this site every Monday morning since 2016. This monitoring has provided the participants with a wealth of knowledge about the birds you might see at this location. They have been observing numerous species of waterfowl, a variety of shorebirds including American Avocets and Black Necked Stilts, as well as a variety of raptors, while looking and occasionally spotting the secretive Sora and Virginia Rails.
February Field Trip to the Sacramento Valley Wildlife Refuges with Wendy Cole & Mark Stephenson
Saturday/Sunday February 22nd & 23rd, 2025
Our next field trip will be to a number of our incredible National and State Wildlife Refuges that dot the Sacramento Valley. We will begin at Colusa NWR and then head onto the Sacramento NWR. (Our route may vary based on recent eBird checklists and a pre-trip exploration.) All of the Sanctuaries host a wide variety of Ducks and Geese. We should have excellent views of Cinnamon, Green-winged and Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shovelers, American and Eurasian Wigeon, Northern Pintails, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked and Ruddy Ducks as well as White- fronted, Snow, and Ross’s Geese. Along the way we should be able to locate flocks of Long-billed Curlews, Dunlin, Least and other migrating shorebirds, as well as White-faced Ibis, Sandhill Cranes and Tundra Swans. Raptors will also be on our agenda with Red-tailed, Merlins, Coopers, Sharp-shinned and Bald Eagles expected along with possible Rough-legged Hawks and Short-eared Owls. Other passerines and rarities will also be on our radar.
For those wishing to make this a 2-day event we will stay over in the vicinity of Willows/ Williams and head onto the CA Fish & Wildlife Gray Lodge Sanctuary near Gridley on Sunday. There will be many flooded fields along the way where we hope to view Tundra Swans, Ducks and Geese at close range. Stay tuned for more information and registration details in our Field Trip eBlast.
NSAS Presents: Colombia Birding with John Sterling Thursday, February 13th at 7:00 p.m. at the Benicia Public Library
About the Program: Colombia is one of the top birding destinations with over 1,900 species. John will give an overview of many of the top locations and rare and endemic birds from his recent tours. From Caribbean coast to pacific rainforest lowlands to the three ranges of the Andes and valleys in between and the Orinoco lowlands bordering Venezuela, he will illustrate the huge diversity with his photographs of fancy and exotic birds.
About the Presenter: John has been a hard core birder in California since he was shown a Pileated Woodpecker in 5th grade camp in 1971. He is a professional ornithologist and has worked for the Smithsonian Institution, US Forest Service research stations, HT Harvey & Associates, Arizona and Oregon state universities among other organizations since 1981. John has traveled extensively throughout California learning about local bird distribution and is an authority on that state’s avifauna. In 2015 he set the California’s new big year record with 501 species and has many big day records as well. He has traveled internationally as a guide and ornithologist for many institutions including projects as a Smithsonian ornithologist to Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, The Philippines, Sumatra, Canada and Russia.
Searching for Volunteers
We are looking for volunteers to help support our beginning bird walks that take place in our local parks. Please consider helping out with this rewarding activity. We are also looking for supporters to assist us with Education Programs in our Schools, Tabling for Community Events such as Earth Day and in a number of Citizen Science activities from Monitoring Bluebird Boxes to Christmas Bird Counts. If you are interested in serving in any of these areas in any capacity, please click on the volunteer opportunities link below or contact Mark Stephenson at for more details.