Vertebrates
Browse our Q&A about birds, eggs, nests, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals of the Central Coast and Channel Islands.
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- Recently Asked
“Can you tell me what these strange flat bones are from? Recent finds on Devereaux Beach, among after-storm wash-ups. I will return them to the beach. I have another image showing it's thickness, 1/4–3...”
Katey, Santa Barbara - March 7, 2024
“Hello,I found some bones on the beach in Shell Beach, CA, in early August (2023), put them in a bag, and unfortunately forgot about them till now. Would you be able to identify them? I'm happy to retu...”
Toni, Pismo Beach, CA - January 11, 2024
“Hello, I was captivated by the California grizzly bear specimen in the Mammal Hall. Can you please tell me more about it, i.e. when/where it was collected? I tried using the database search function,...”
Marissa - December 17, 2023
“This duck is a new resident at Alice Keck Park. You can see how long his neck is. When he stands up, he is very straight upward holding his head high in the air. Not scooched over like regular mallard...”
Gretchen, Santa Barbara - November 25, 2023
“Hi there,
Came across this skull lying atop the rocks along the beach of Smugglers Cove on Santa Cruz Island earlier this month. My best guess is feral pig, but unsure... ”
Eliot, Santa Barbara - October 15, 2023
“Found this in seaweed washed up at Hope Ranch Beach.”
Pam, Santa Barbara - October 3, 2023
“I found what I think is a horse tooth on Hendry's beach. Is it old?? It's probably hard to tell from the photos. It's about 2 1/2 inches long. I'm guessing it washed down down a creek this past winter...”
Robert, Santa Barbara - June 18, 2023
“Hello!
Can you tell what type of rodent this is? I thought at first Dusky-footed Woodrat, but the ears seem to be too small.
Thank you!”
Kevin, Santa Barbara - May 19, 2023
“I saw this at base of eroding cliffs at Butterfly Beach in Montecito, just curious if animal or possibly human. Thanks. It was just about 10 inches in length.”
Aaron, Santa Barbara - May 8, 2023
“On the 15th of this month, I went to the hummingbird feeders and saw a dead hummer underneath the feeder. It looked muddy and while it didn't look like an Annas Hummingbird, it seemed similar in size....”
Janine, Ojai,CA - March 21, 2023