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Common Grackle: Medium-sized blackbird with metallic purple sheen on back, head, neck, and breast. Eyes are bright yellow. Central feathers of long, rounded tail are often lowered to show keeled V-shape. Swift, strong direct flight with rapid wing beats, holds tail folded in a V shape while flying.
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Cook's Petrel: Small petrel, slate-gray back and upperwings marked by a distinctive black M pattern. Underparts, underwings are white. Face is white with small, dark mask. Wings are long and slender. Tail is gray, black-tipped central feathers and white edges. Black bill, blue-gray legs and feet.
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Chinese Egret: Population is seriously declining due to competition for living space with humans and other egrets. White overall with shaggy crest, blue-green lores, orange-yellow bill, and black legs with yellow feet. Has been seen feeding on mudflats and tidal flats with other egrets and herons.
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Common Eider: Large diving duck (v-nigrum), with distinctive sloping forehead, black body, white breast and back. Crown is black and nape is pale green. Wings are white with black primary and secondary feathers. Tail and rump are black. Bill is dull yellow to gray-green (eastern) or orange-yellow (western).
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Common Sandpiper: Eurasian counterpart to the Spotted Sandpiper; has dusky gray upperparts, heavily streaked breast, and sparkling white underparts. Best distinguished by its habit of standing in a semi-crouch and bobbing back and forth. Flies low over water with stiff shallow wing beats and glides.
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Common Snipe: Longest-billed of all snipes, best identified by broad white stripe at base of underwing. Upperparts cryptically colored with brown and yellow-brown streaks of many different shades. Underparts white but strongly suffused with orange wash, heavily barred and streaked with dark brown.
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California Gnatcatcher: Medium-sized gnatcatcher with a black cap, dark blue-gray upperparts, black tail, and paler gray, buff-washed underparts. Bill is short, slender, and black. Tail is black with white edges, with undertail appearing all-black when closed. Legs and feet are black.
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Common Ringed Plover: Plump little plover with dark gray-brown upperparts, pure white underparts, and strong black mask and chest band. Base of dark-tipped bill and legs are bright orange. Frequents mudflats. Eats worms, aquatic insects, crustaceans and mollusks. Direct flight with rapid wing beats.
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Common Murre: Medium seabird with brown-black upperparts, throat, white underparts, and long dark bill. Tail is short. Some Atlantic birds have a narrow white eye-ring and stripe extending past the eye. Can dive to depths of more than 240 feet. Feeds on fish and invertebrates. AKA Common Guillemot.
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Clark's Grebe: Large grebe, gray-black upperparts, white underparts, and slender neck with white on front and black on back. White face, black cap extends nearly to red eyes. Bill is yellow-orange. Until the 1980's thought to be a pale morph of the Western Grebe. Direct flight on rapid wing beats.
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Crested Auklet: Small, oddly attired seabird of Arctic waters with dark gray body. Head has a strange, smiling orange bill, quail-like crest, bright yellow-white eyes and white eye plumes. Legs and feet are gray. Feeds on zooplankton, crustaceans, squid and fish. Swift, low, direct flight.
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Cassin's Auklet: Small seabird with slate-gray upperparts, pale gray underparts, white belly. Pale yellow eyes with a white crescent patch above them. Short black bill has white spot at base of lower mandible that is visible at close range. Short tail and rounded wings. Rapid direct flight.
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Craveri's Murrelet: Small, plump seabird, reminiscent of a small, flying penguin. with black upperparts that extend as a bar onto the side of upper breast, distinct white crescents above and below eyes, white underparts, and dark gray underwing linings. Feeds on crustaceans and small fish.
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Common Loon: Large loon, white-spotted, black upperparts and white underparts. Head, neck are green-black with white-streaked neckbands. Bill is black and thick. Eyes are red-brown. Dives for small fish and crustaceans. Direct flight on strong deep wing beats, head, neck and feet extend beyond body.
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Crested Caracara: Large, ground-dwelling falcon, black body, finely barred tail, wing panels and upper breast. Head crest is black, facial skin is red, and large bill is blue-gray and hooked. Legs are long and yellow. Strong steady wing beats alternated with long to short glides. Soars on thermals.
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Common Goldeneye: Medium diving duck, white-striped black upperparts, white underparts. Head is iridescent green-black with white circular patch between yellow eyes and dark gray bill. Wings are dark with large white patches conspicuous in flight. Legs and feet are yellow. Swift, direct flight.
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California Gull: Moderately large gull, white body, gray wings, black wing tips. Bill is yellow with red and black spot near tip of bill on lower mandible. Legs are yellow; eye is dark with red orbital ring. Strong direct flight with deep wing beats. Soars on thermals and updrafts.
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Canvasback: Large, flashy diving duck with pale gray body and black breast, tail. Head is red-brown with long, sloping profile and long, dark bill. Eye is red. Legs and feet are gray. Feeds primarily on aquatic plants. Rapid direct flight with strong wing beats. Flies high, usually in V formations.
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Common Raven: Large raven with all-black body, large, stout bill, wedge-shaped tail. Eats invertebrates, vertebrates, insects, carrion, refuse, eggs and young of other birds, and rodents. Strong flight, alternates several deep wing beats with long glides on flat wings. Soars on thermals, updrafts.
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Common Tern: Medium tern, medium gray upperparts, pale gray underparts, glossy black cap and nape. Wings are dark-tipped and have dark leading edge on forewing. Red bill is black-tipped. Legs are red and tail is deeply forked and elongated. Direct flight, hovers above water before diving for prey.
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Clapper Rail: Large, noisy marsh bird, gray or brown upperparts, vertical white-barred flanks and belly, buff or rust-brown breast. Bill is long, slightly decurved. Gray legs, feet. Feeds at low tide on mudflats or hidden in salt marsh vegetation. Flight is low and fluttering over short distances.
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Caspian Tern: Large, stocky tern with pale gray upperparts, white underparts. Cap is black and may appear weakly crested; large bill is coral-red. Undersides of primaries are gray. Tail is white, relatively short, and slightly forked; legs are black. Hovers above water before diving.
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