Bird encyclopedia · 11 reviewed profiles · 1000 species

Backyard Birds A–Z

The backyard birds most people meet are a short list — cardinal, chickadee, titmouse, goldfinch, house finch, robin, blue jay, mourning dove, downy woodpecker, hummingbird, oriole — and each has a reviewed profile here built from the Cornell Lab's All About Birds accounts and eBird records ⁶⁸.

Below them is the full A–Z catalog: the first 1,000 living species of the American Ornithological Society's North and Middle American checklist ⁷, most of which are not backyard birds at all, kept for identification and completeness.

Male northern cardinal — among the most familiar backyard birds in eastern North America — Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Reviewed backyard birds

American GoldfinchSpinus tristisFringillidae

American RobinTurdus migratoriusTurdidae

Baltimore OrioleIcterus galbulaIcteridae

Black-capped ChickadeePoecile atricapillusParidae

Blue JayCyanocitta cristataCorvidae

Downy WoodpeckerDryobates pubescensPicidae

House FinchHaemorhous mexicanusFringillidae

Mourning DoveZenaida macrouraColumbidae

Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalisCardinalidae

Ruby-throated HummingbirdArchilochus colubrisTrochilidae

Tufted TitmouseBaeolophus bicolorParidae

How to identify backyard birds

Start with the feeder, because feeders sort birds by food: black-oil sunflower brings cardinals, chickadees, finches and sparrows; nyjer brings goldfinches, siskins and redpolls; suet brings woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees; millet on the ground brings juncos, doves and sparrows ¹. Then use size and shape against a bird you know — the profiles here give size in centimeters and the family — and finally color and field marks from the All About Birds accounts each profile cites ⁸.

Season matters too. Goldfinches molt twice a year and are olive-brown in winter; robins that stay north roost in trees and feed on berries rather than lawns; blue jays may migrate one year and not the next ⁸. The seasonal pages on this site cover spring, summer and fall for the commonest species.

Backyard birds by state

Which backyard birds you actually see depends on where you live. For nine states — Florida, Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Michigan and Rhode Island — this site computes the most-reported species, month by month, from eBird checklists reported 2020–2024 and retrieved through GBIF ⁶. The Black-capped Chickadee ranks third among all species reported in Michigan and has no records at all in Florida; the Northern Cardinal is the single most-reported bird in both Florida and Tennessee and has only a few hundred records in California ⁶. Each of the eleven reviewed profiles shows its own nine-state eBird summary.

Backyard birds by state and group

Birds in Florida →Birds in Arizona →Birds in California →Birds in Colorado →Birds in Oregon →Birds in Tennessee →Birds in Texas →Birds in Michigan →Birds in Rhode Island →All states →Spring birds →Summer birds →Fall birds →

All 1000 species A–Z

129 species

Bahama Woodstar Baikal Teal Baird's Sandpiper Baird's Trogon Bald Eagle Balsas Screech-Owl Baltimore Oriole Band-rumped Storm-Petrel Band-rumped Swift Band-tailed Barbthroat Band-tailed Pigeon Banded Quail Bar-tailed Godwit Bare-legged Owl Bare-shanked Screech-Owl Bare-throated Tiger-Heron Barnacle Goose Barolo Shearwater Barred Hawk Barred Owl Barrow's Goldeneye Bay-breasted Cuckoo Bearded Screech-Owl Bearded Wood-Partridge Beautiful Hummingbird Bee Hummingbird Belcher's Gull Bermuda Petrel Berylline Hummingbird Bewick's Wren Bicolored Hawk Black Francolin Black Guan Black Guillemot Black Hawk-Eagle Black Kite Black Noddy Black Oystercatcher Black Rail Black Scoter Black Skimmer Black Storm-Petrel Black Swift Black Tern Black Turnstone Black Vulture Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle Black-and-white Owl Black-and-white Warbler Black-bellied Hummingbird Black-bellied Plover Black-bellied Storm-Petrel Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Black-billed Cuckoo Black-billed Magpie Black-billed Streamertail Black-breasted Wood-Quail Black-browed Albatross Black-capped Chickadee Black-capped Petrel Black-chinned Hummingbird Black-collared Hawk Black-crested Coquette Black-crowned Night Heron Black-eared Wood-Quail Black-footed Albatross Black-headed Grosbeak Black-headed Gull Black-headed Trogon Black-legged Kittiwake Black-necked Stilt Black-tailed Godwit Black-tailed Gull Black-tailed Trogon Black-throated Bobwhite Black-throated Mango Black-vented Shearwater Black-winged Petrel Black-winged Stilt Blue Ground Dove Blue Jay Blue-billed White-Tern Blue-capped Hummingbird Blue-chested Hummingbird Blue-footed Booby Blue-gray Noddy Blue-headed Hummingbird Blue-headed Quail-Dove Blue-tailed Hummingbird Blue-throated Goldentail Blue-throated Mountain-gem Blue-vented Hummingbird Blue-winged Teal Boat-billed Heron Bonaparte's Gull Bonin Petrel Boreal Owl Brandt's Cormorant Brant Bridled Quail-Dove Bridled Tern Bristle-thighed Curlew Broad-billed Hummingbird Broad-billed Sandpiper Broad-billed Tody Broad-tailed Hummingbird Broad-winged Hawk Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer Bronzy Hermit Brown Booby Brown Creeper Brown Noddy Brown Pelican Brown Thrasher Brown Violetear Brown-headed Cowbird Bryan's Shearwater Buff-bellied Hummingbird Buff-breasted Sandpiper Buff-collared Nightjar Buff-fronted Quail-Dove Buff-necked Ibis Bufflehead Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridge Buller's Shearwater Bulwer's Petrel Bumblebee Hummingbird Burrowing Owl Bushtit

110 species

Cackling Goose California Condor California Gull California Quail California Scrub-Jay Calliope Hummingbird Canada Goose Canada Jay Canivet's Emerald Canvasback Cape Verde Shearwater Capped Heron Caribbean Dove Carolina Chickadee Carolina Wren Caspian Tern Cassin's Auklet Cedar Waxwing Central American Pygmy-Owl Chapman's Swift Charming Hummingbird Chatham Albatross Chestnut-backed Chickadee Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse Chestnut-collared Swift Chimney Swift Chinese Egret Chinese Pond-Heron Chinese Sparrowhawk Chipping Sparrow Chiriqui Quail-Dove Choco Screech-Owl Choco Tinamou Christmas Shearwater Chuck-will's-widow Chukar Cinereous Owl Cinnamon Hummingbird Cinnamon Teal Citreoline Trogon Clapper Rail Clark's Grebe Clark's Nutcracker Cocoi Heron Cocos Booby Cocos Cuckoo Colima Pygmy-Owl Collared Plover Collared Pratincole Collared Trogon Colombian Crake Comb Duck Common Black Hawk Common Crane Common Cuckoo Common Eider Common Gallinule Common Goldeneye Common Grackle Common Greenshank Common Ground Dove Common Gull Common Hoopoe Common Loon Common Merganser Common Moorhen Common Murre Common Nighthawk Common Pauraque Common Pochard Common Poorwill Common Potoo Common Redshank Common Ringed Plover Common Sandpiper Common Scoter Common Shelduck Common Snipe Common Squirrel-Cuckoo Common Swift Common Tern Common Wood Pigeon Common Yellowthroat Cook's Petrel Cooper's Hawk Coppery-headed Emerald Corn Crake Cory's Shearwater Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl Costa Rican Swift Costa's Hummingbird Cozumel Emerald Crane Hawk Craveri's Murrelet Crested Auklet Crested Bobwhite Crested Eagle Crested Guan Crested Owl Crested Quail-Dove Crowned Woodnymph Cuban Black Hawk Cuban Emerald Cuban Kite Cuban Nightjar Cuban Pygmy-Owl Cuban Tody Cuban Trogon Curlew Sandpiper

13 species

Dark-billed Cuckoo Dark-eyed Junco Double-crested Cormorant Double-striped Thick-knee Double-toothed Kite Dovekie Downy Woodpecker Dunlin Dusky Grouse Dusky Hummingbird Dusky Nightjar Dusky Pigeon Dwarf Cuckoo

18 species

Falcated Duck Far Eastern Curlew Fasciated Tiger-Heron Fea's Petrel Ferruginous Hawk Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl Field Sparrow Fiery-throated Hummingbird Fish Crow Flammulated Owl Flesh-footed Shearwater Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel Fork-tailed Swift Forster's Tern Fox Sparrow Franklin's Gull Fulvous Owl Fulvous Whistling-Duck

86 species

Gadwall Galapagos Petrel Galapagos Shearwater Gambel's Quail Garden Emerald Garganey Garnet-throated Hummingbird Gartered Trogon Glaucous Gull Glaucous-winged Gull Glossy Ibis Glow-throated Hummingbird Golden Eagle Golden-crowned Emerald Golden-crowned Kinglet Golden-headed Quetzal Graceful Black-throated Trogon Gray Catbird Gray Francolin Gray Gull Gray Hawk Gray Heron Gray Nightjar Gray Partridge Gray-backed Tern Gray-bellied Hawk Gray-breasted Crake Gray-capped Cuckoo Gray-chested Dove Gray-cowled Wood-Rail Gray-faced Petrel Gray-fronted Quail-Dove Gray-headed Chachalaca Gray-headed Dove Gray-headed Kite Gray-hooded Gull Gray-lined Hawk Gray-rumped Swift Gray-tailed Tattler Graylag Goose Great Black Hawk Great Black-backed Gull Great Blue Heron Great Cormorant Great Crested Tern Great Curassow Great Egret Great Frigatebird Great Gray Owl Great Horned Owl Great Knot Great Lizard-Cuckoo Great Potoo Great Shearwater Great Skua Great Swallow-tailed Swift Great Tinamou Greater Ani Greater Prairie-Chicken Greater Roadrunner Greater Sage-Grouse Greater Sand-Plover Greater Scaup Greater White-fronted Goose Greater Yellowlegs Green Hermit Green Heron Green Ibis Green Mango Green Sandpiper Green Thorntail Green-breasted Mango Green-breasted Mountain-gem Green-crowned Brilliant Green-fronted Hummingbird Green-fronted Lancebill Green-throated Carib Green-throated Mountain-gem Green-winged Teal Greenish Puffleg Grenada Dove Groove-billed Ani Guadalupe Murrelet Gull-billed Tern Gundlach's Hawk Gunnison Sage-Grouse

7 species

Iceland Gull Inagua Woodstar Inca Dove Inca Tern Indian Peafowl Indigo Bunting Ivory Gull

10 species

Jabiru Jack Snipe Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo Jamaican Mango Jamaican Owl Jamaican Petrel Jamaican Tody Japanese Quail Jouanin's Petrel Juan Fernandez Petrel

10 species

Kalij Pheasant Kelp Gull Kentish Plover Kermadec Petrel Key West Quail-Dove Killdeer King Eider King Rail King Vulture Kittlitz's Murrelet

55 species

Large-billed Tern Lattice-tailed Trogon Laughing Gull Laysan Albatross Laysan Duck Lazuli Bunting Leach's Storm-Petrel Least Auklet Least Bittern Least Grebe Least Pauraque Least Sandpiper Least Storm-Petrel Least Tern Lesser Antillean Swift Lesser Black-backed Gull Lesser Frigatebird Lesser Ground-Cuckoo Lesser Nighthawk Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lesser Roadrunner Lesser Scaup Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift Lesser Violetear Lesser White-fronted Goose Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture Lesser Yellowlegs Lewis's Woodpecker Light-mantled Albatross Limpkin Lincoln's Sparrow Little Bittern Little Blue Heron Little Cuckoo Little Curlew Little Egret Little Gull Little Ringed Plover Little Stint Little Tern Little Tinamou Little White-Tern Long-billed Curlew Long-billed Dowitcher Long-billed Hermit Long-billed Murrelet Long-billed Starthroat Long-eared Owl Long-legged Buzzard Long-tailed Duck Long-tailed Jaeger Long-tailed Wood-Partridge Long-toed Stint Long-winged Harrier Lucifer Hummingbird

17 species

Oak Titmouse Ocellated Crake Ocellated Poorwill Ocellated Quail Ocellated Turkey Oilbird Olive-backed Quail-Dove Orange-crowned Warbler Orchard Oriole Oriental Cuckoo Oriental Plover Oriental Pratincole Oriental Scops-Owl Oriental Turtle-Dove Orinoco Goose Ornate Hawk-Eagle Osprey

53 species

Pacific Golden-Plover Pacific Loon Pacific Screech-Owl Paint-billed Crake Painted Bunting Pale-bellied Hermit Pale-vented Pigeon Pallas's Gull Palm Warbler Parakeet Auklet Parasitic Jaeger Parkinson's Petrel Pearl Kite Pearly-breasted Cuckoo Pectoral Sandpiper Pelagic Cormorant Peruvian Booby Pheasant Cuckoo Pied-billed Grebe Pigeon Guillemot Pileated Woodpecker Pin-tailed Snipe Pine Siskin Pine Warbler Pink-footed Goose Pink-footed Shearwater Pinnated Bittern Piping Plover Pirre Hummingbird Plain Chachalaca Plain Pigeon Plain-breasted Ground Dove Plain-capped Starthroat Plumbeous Hawk Plumbeous Kite Plumbeous Pigeon Pomarine Jaeger Providence Petrel Puerto Rican Emerald Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo Puerto Rican Mango Puerto Rican Nightjar Puerto Rican Owl Purple Finch Purple Gallinule Purple Heron Purple Sandpiper Purple Swamphen Purple-crowned Fairy Purple-throated Carib Purple-throated Mountain-gem Purple-throated Woodstar Purplish-backed Quail-Dove

71 species

Razorbill Red Junglefowl Red Knot Red Phalarope Red-bellied Woodpecker Red-billed Pigeon Red-billed Streamertail Red-billed Tropicbird Red-breasted Merganser Red-breasted Nuthatch Red-faced Cormorant Red-footed Booby Red-headed Woodpecker Red-legged Kittiwake Red-necked Grebe Red-necked Phalarope Red-necked Stint Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Red-tailed Tropicbird Red-throated Loon Red-winged Blackbird Reddish Egret Redhead Resplendent Quetzal Rhinoceros Auklet Ridgway's Hawk Ridgway's Rail Ring-billed Gull Ring-necked Duck Ring-necked Pheasant Ring-tailed Pigeon Ringed Storm-Petrel Rivoli's Hummingbird Roadside Hawk Rock Pigeon Rock Ptarmigan Rock Sandpiper Rock Wren Rose-breasted Grosbeak Roseate Spoonbill Roseate Tern Ross's Goose Ross's Gull Rough-legged Hawk Royal Tern Ruby-crowned Kinglet Ruby-throated Hummingbird Ruby-topaz Hummingbird Ruddy Crake Ruddy Duck Ruddy Ground Dove Ruddy Pigeon Ruddy Quail-Dove Ruddy Shelduck Ruddy Turnstone Rufescent Tiger-Heron Ruff Ruffed Grouse Rufous Hummingbird Rufous Nightjar Rufous Sabrewing Rufous-bellied Chachalaca Rufous-breasted Hermit Rufous-crested Coquette Rufous-necked Wood-Rail Rufous-tailed Hummingbird Rufous-vented Chachalaca Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo Russet-crowned Quail-Dove Russet-naped Wood-Rail

101 species

Sabine's Gull Salvin's Albatross Sanderling Sandhill Crane Sandwich Tern Sapphire-throated Hummingbird Sargasso Shearwater Savanna Hawk Savannah Sparrow Scaled Pigeon Scaled Quail Scaly-breasted Hummingbird Scaly-naped Pigeon Scarlet Ibis Scarlet Tanager Scintillant Hummingbird Scopoli's Shearwater Scripps's Murrelet Semipalmated Plover Semipalmated Sandpiper Semiplumbeous Hawk Sharp-shinned Hawk Sharp-tailed Grouse Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Short-billed Gull Short-billed Pigeon Short-crested Coquette Short-eared Owl Short-tailed Albatross Short-tailed Hawk Short-tailed Nighthawk Short-tailed Shearwater Short-tailed Swift Siberian Sand-Plover Sick's Swift Singing Quail Slaty-backed Gull Slaty-breasted Tinamou Slaty-tailed Trogon Slender Sheartail Slender-billed Curlew Slender-billed Kite Smew Smooth-billed Ani Snail Kite Snow Goose Snowcap Snowy Egret Snowy Owl Snowy Plover Snowy-bellied Hummingbird Socorro Dove Solitary Eagle Solitary Sandpiper Solitary Snipe Song Sparrow Sooty Grouse Sooty Shearwater Sooty Tern Sora South Polar Skua Southern Lapwing Sparkling-tailed Hummingbird Spectacled Eider Spectacled Owl Spoon-billed Sandpiper Spot-bellied Bobwhite Spot-fronted Swift Spot-tailed Nightjar Spotted Crake Spotted Dove Spotted Owl Spotted Rail Spotted Redshank Spotted Sandpiper Spotted Towhee Spotted Wood-Quail Spruce Grouse Stejneger's Petrel Stejneger's Scoter Steller's Eider Steller's Jay Steller's Sea-Eagle Stilt Sandpiper Streaked Shearwater Striated Heron Stripe-tailed Hummingbird Stripe-throated Hermit Striped Cuckoo Striped Owl Stygian Owl Summer Tanager Sunbittern Sungrebe Surf Scoter Surfbird Swainson's Hawk Swallow-tailed Gull Swallow-tailed Kite Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel

3 species

Uniform Crake Unspotted Saw-whet Owl Upland Sandpiper

13 species

Vaux's Swift Vega Gull Velvet Scoter Veraguan Mango Vervain Hummingbird Violaceous Quail-Dove Violet Sabrewing Violet-bellied Hummingbird Violet-capped Hummingbird Violet-crowned Hummingbird Violet-headed Hummingbird Virginia Rail Volcano Hummingbird

84 species

Wandering Albatross Wandering Tattler Wattled Jacana Waved Albatross Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel Wedge-tailed Sabrewing Wedge-tailed Shearwater West Indian Whistling-Duck West Mexican Chachalaca Western Bluebird Western Cattle-Egret Western Grebe Western Gull Western Marsh Harrier Western Reef-Heron Western Sandpiper Western Screech-Owl Western Tanager Western Water-Rail Whimbrel Whiskered Auklet Whiskered Screech-Owl Whiskered Tern Whistling Heron White Hawk White Ibis White-bellied Chachalaca White-bellied Emerald White-bellied Mountain-gem White-breasted Nuthatch White-capped Albatross White-cheeked Pintail White-chinned Petrel White-chinned Swift White-collared Swift White-crested Coquette White-crowned Pigeon White-crowned Sparrow White-eared Hummingbird White-faced Ibis White-faced Quail-Dove White-faced Storm-Petrel White-faced Whistling-Duck White-fronted Quail-Dove White-fronted Swift White-naped Swift White-necked Jacobin White-necked Petrel White-rumped Sandpiper White-tailed Eagle White-tailed Emerald White-tailed Hawk White-tailed Hummingbird White-tailed Kite White-tailed Nightjar White-tailed Ptarmigan White-tailed Trogon White-tailed Tropicbird White-throated Crake White-throated Mountain-gem White-throated Needletail White-throated Sparrow White-throated Swift White-tipped Dove White-tipped Sicklebill White-vented Plumeleteer White-winged Dove White-winged Scoter White-winged Tern Whooper Swan Whooping Crane Wild Turkey Willet Willow Ptarmigan Wilson's Phalarope Wilson's Plover Wilson's Snipe Wilson's Storm-Petrel Wine-throated Hummingbird Winter Wren Wood Duck Wood Sandpiper Wood Stork Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

1 species

Xantus's Hummingbird

15 species

Yellow Bittern Yellow Rail Yellow Warbler Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Yellow-billed Cuckoo Yellow-billed Loon Yellow-billed Tern Yellow-breasted Crake Yellow-crowned Night Heron Yellow-footed Gull Yellow-legged Gull Yellow-nosed Albatross Yellow-rumped Warbler Yucatan Nightjar Yucatan Poorwill

5 species

Zapata Rail Zebra Dove Zenaida Dove Zino's Petrel Zone-tailed Hawk

Frequently asked questions

What are the most common backyard birds?

In much of the East: Northern Cardinal, Black-capped or Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, American Goldfinch, House Finch, American Robin, Blue Jay, Mourning Dove and Downy Woodpecker — all profiled here; the state pages show local rankings from eBird ⁶.

Are all 1,000 birds in the A–Z list backyard birds?

No — the A–Z follows the AOS checklist, which includes seabirds, tropical species and rarities; the reviewed profiles at the top are the backyard species ⁷.