The main reason SoCal birders visit Yosemite is to find a Great Gray Owl, but spring through fall, Great Horned, Spotted, Long-eared, Flammulated, and Northern Pygmy-Owls are all findable. Other specialties include Northern Goshawk, Pine Grosbeak, Blue Grouse, Black-backed Woodpecker, and Black Swift. More adventurous birders can climb up to 11,000' without benefit of a trail to look for Himalayan Snowcock or breeding Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch.
If you're visiting for the first time, leave enough time in your schedule to drive to Glacier Point for one of the most spectacular views in the world.
Area Specialties
- Blue Grouse
- California Quail
- Mountain Quail
- Band-tailed Pigeon
- Greater Roadrunner
- Flammulated Owl
- Western Screech-Owl
- Northern Pygmy-Owl
- Common Nighthawk
- Common Poorwill
- Black Swift
- Vaux's Swift
- White-throated Swift
- Black-chinned Hummingbird
- Anna's Hummingbird
- Calliope Hummingbird
- Rufous Hummingbird
- Red-naped Sapsucker
- Red-breasted Sapsucker
- Williamson's Sapsucker
- Nuttall's Woodpecker
- White-headed Woodpecker
- Dusky Flycatcher
- Hammond's Flycatcher
- Gray Flycatcher
- Pacific-slope Flycatcher
- Black Phoebe
- Ash-throated Flycatcher
- Violet-green Swallow
- Stellar's Jay
- Pinyon Jay
- Clark's Nutcracker
- Oak Titmouse
- Pygmy Nuthatch
- Rock Wren
- Canyon Wren
- American Dipper
- Western Bluebird
- Mountain Bluebird
- Townsend's Solitaire
- Sage Thrasher
- Cassin's Vireo
- Black-throated Gray Warbler
- Townsend's Warbler
- Hermit Warbler
- MacGillivray's Warbler
- Green-tailed Towhee
- California Towhee
- Black-chinned Sparrow
- Black-throated Sparrow
- Golden-crowned Sparrow
- "Sooty" Fox Sparrow
- "Slate-colored" Fox Sparrow
- "Thick-billed" Fox Sparrow
- Cassin's Finch
- Lesser Goldfinch
- Lawrence's Goldfinch