Monthly Program: February 2026
February 5 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Brandt’s Cormorant, Photo by Farallon Institute.
Alcatraz Island – A Climate Refuge for Seabirds
Julie Thayer
Mount Diablo Bird Alliance will meet Thursday, February 5 in the Camellia Room at the Gardens at Heather Farm, 1540 Marchbanks Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598.
6:30 PM Doors Open
7:00 PM Announcements
7:15 PM Refreshments and Raffle
7:30 PM Main Program: Alcatraz Island – A Climate Refuge for Seabirds
*as a conservation organization we encourage you to bring your own mug for coffee or tea
7:00 PM Announcements
7:15 PM Refreshments and Raffle
7:30 PM Main Program: Alcatraz Island – A Climate Refuge for Seabirds
*as a conservation organization we encourage you to bring your own mug for coffee or tea
Alcatraz Island’s Brandt’s Cormorants moved into San Francisco Bay in the early 1990s during a coastward population shift. Alcatraz is now one of the largest Brandt’s Cormorant breeding colonies, and one of only two estuarine colonies. Alcatraz seabirds, including Pigeon Guillemots and Western Gulls, have been outperforming their ocean counterparts despite a high level of human disturbance in this urban setting. The bay hosts a large anchovy population and demersal fish nursery, with strong tidal currents and the river plume into the ocean concentrating prey for seabirds and other predators. We are working to mitigate anthropogenic stressors to support this important colony and increase seabird resilience to climate change.
Julie Thayer has worked in the California Current marine ecosystem for three decades, with a brief hiatus on the north coast of Brazil. She studied at the University of California at Santa Cruz/Long Marine Lab and UC Davis in Marine Biology and Ecology. Thayer has done field research on Alcatraz seabirds, studying population changes, diet, productivity, and human disturbance since 1997.
Julie Thayer has worked in the California Current marine ecosystem for three decades, with a brief hiatus on the north coast of Brazil. She studied at the University of California at Santa Cruz/Long Marine Lab and UC Davis in Marine Biology and Ecology. Thayer has done field research on Alcatraz seabirds, studying population changes, diet, productivity, and human disturbance since 1997.
Seabird colony at Alcatraz Island, Photo: Zoe Burr