This is Not Your Average Field Guide
The San Francisco Bay Area is an exceptional bioregion. And the diverse and magnificent collection of creatures that call the Bay Area home have some surprising, unusual and entertaining behaviors. Think you know your animal neighbors? Crack open Bay Area Wildlife: An Irreverent Guide, and let author Jeff Miller and illustrator Obi Kaufmann show you who we’re really living alongside.
Just click the blue button to order your signed copy right now…
“Breezy to read, bite-sized accounts of fascinating creatures… this lovingly irreverent perspective on this rich and diverse area will assuredly captivate, astonish, educate, and always entertain.”
— Keith Hansen, Author of Birds of Point Reyes
where to find bay area wildlife
Heyday Books has published Bay Area Wildlife, and you can find it at better bookstores everywhere…but you can get your copy directly from the author right now.
get your Copy signed
Having your own copy of a guidebook covering a part of the world that’s near and dear to you is great…but turning to the flyleaf and seeing the author’s signature and personal dedication to you is even better. Order your copy now and make it happen!
Sneak Peek!
Read this excerpt from the book’s introduction to meet some of the charismatic animal ambassadors featured in Bay Area Wildlife
about the book
embrace your local fauna
There are 7.6 million people in the San Francisco Bay Area…but who else lives here? Bay Area Wildlife introduces you to over 100 native creatures, spanning mammalian, marine, avian, piscine, reptilian, amphibian and invertebrate species. This informative primer is a treasure map for regional wildlife as well as a conservation call to readers to join the ranks of the world’s wildlife defenders.
think you know the bay’s animals? think again…
Bay Area Wildife casts a spotlight on the whereabouts and personalities of the Bay Area’s furred, feathered, and fork-tongued neighbors. Meet “screaming death parrots” (a.k.a peregrine falcons), “disco slugs dressed for a P-Funk concert” (nudibranchs), and “rototillers with fur” (badgers), among many others.
Jeff’s colorful descriptions offer a compilation of each species’ natural history and fun facts—did you know beavers have vanilla-scented butts, elephant seals have the loudest recorded burps (at 130 decibels), only Usain Bolt can run faster than a roadrunner, or that pooping whales might possibly save the world? Each section also includes tips on when, where and how to best find and observe each animal.
Get to know your guides
Author Jeff Miller, a decades-long conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity and founder of the Alameda Creek Alliance, draws on his vast knowledge of the San Francisco Bay bioregion and fierce devotion to its native fauna to animate the most engaging guidebook you’re likely to come across. Jeff’s prose is aided and abetted by famed artist/philosopher Obi Kauffman‘s beautiful watercolor illustrations, capturing the essence of the Bay Area’s wild inhabitants, and photos of each species from local wildlife photographers.
We Love The Book!
Breezy to read, bite-sized accounts of fascinating creatures, be they colossal or minute, obvious or clandestine, slimy or sinewy, and furred, feathered or finned, hold the reader’s attention. This lovingly irreverent perspective on this rich and diverse area will assuredly captivate, astonish, educate, and always entertain.
Keith Hansen
Author of Birds of Point Reyes
A fun and easy guide to get to know many of the fascinating and diverse fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals (and even nudibranchs) of the Bay Area. Combining playful descriptions with excellent natural history observations, this book belongs in every nature-lover’s library.
Laura Cunningham
Author of A State of Change
“Jeff Miller, a leading advocate for wild nature in the region, writes without stuffiness. He deploys ageless archetypes then segues to the science.”
Ken Brower
Author of Wake of the Whale
“The Blazing Saddles of wildlife guides.”
Jolene Griffith
Jeff’s Mom