Get to Know These 20 Common Birds
Want to put names to species you regularly see? Start with this beginner's guide.
One of the best things about birds is that they’re everywhere. (Seriously, there are even records of the South Polar Skua at, you guessed it, the South Pole.) And even though many people don’t realize it, they see and hear a wide variety of birds every day while going about their daily lives—grabbing their mail, outside their work windows, on their morning run, watching their kid’s soccer game . . . everywhere.
But despite birds being all over the place, for most people identifying them begins and ends with the Rock Pigeon. This list covers many of the other birds you are likely to see on a regular basis, from coast to coast, throughout the year. The species here can be seen in urban, suburban, and rural spaces, and the majority frequent backyards and feeders. So whether you’re new to the world of birding or just want to know what that little bird in the bushes is, this primer should help. And in case it doesn’t, you can visit our online field guide or download our free Audubon bird guide app to solve the mystery.
American Robin
Perhaps no other North American bird is as familiar to the general public as the American Robin. Widespread, common, and conspicuous, these medium-size birds can be found in every state in the Lower 48, every Canadian province, and Alaska. They are easy to spot with their rusty orange bellies and gray backs. Often seen running upright across lawns and meadows while foraging for worms, robins can be found from cities and towns to parks and forests, where their rich, throaty songs provide a constant soundtrack to our daily lives.
Good bird fact: Although Robins are considered one of the key harbingers of spring, only some birds in northern states travel south during winter. Instead, stragglers will join large roaming flocks looking for berries. When spring returns, they disband and spread back out across their full range.
Listen to the American Robin's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
Northern Cardinal
With its black face and crimson crest, beak, and body, the male Northern Cardinal, or “redbird” to many, is one of the most recognized and well-known birds in North America. Though less showy, females are also splendid, wearing soft, tawny feathers instead of the male's bright red plumage. Cardinals are often in pairs and can be seen at feeders and around mixed habitat throughout the East and parts of the Southwest.
Good bird fact: The Northern Cardinal is the most popular state bird (seven) and the mascot for a whole bunch of sports teams. However, despite what the University of Louisville might think, cardinals most definitely do not have teeth.
Listen to the Northern Cardinal's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
Blue Jay
As with the cardinal, it’s pretty darn hard to mistake a Blue Jay for anything else. A distinctive bird that can be seen year-round in the eastern United States, the Blue Jay is of one of the most striking—and loudest—jays. At home in the forest, they also thrive in suburban habitats and are often unfairly (or, okay, fairly) regarded as feeder bullies. While easy to identify at a glance thanks to its crest and bright coloring, don’t miss the stunning pattern of black, white, and blue on the wings.
Good bird fact: The vibrant feathers of a Blue Jay are magnificent, no doubt, but even more impressive are the microscopic keratin particles throughout each feather that scatter light, producing the cooler colors seen on these and other birds.
Listen to the Blue Jay's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
Steller's Jay
When you reach the Rocky Mountains, suddenly Blue Jays are replaced by Steller's Jays. With their contrasting blue lower bodies and black backs, heads, and crests, Steller's are easily distinguishable. Loud and boisterous, they are most common in coniferous forests, but as with all jays, these birds are bold and have grown accustomed to humans, making them common visitors to campsites, parks, and backyards. A solitary nester, Steller's Jays live in flocks for the rest of the year.
Good bird fact: Steller's Jays can vary widely in both body and head color, ranging from extremely dark populations to paler birds with white marks on their heads. In total, 16 subspecies have been described across North America.
Listen to the Steller's Jay's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
Mourning Dove
The most widespread dove in North America, the Mourning Dove is an easily startled ground feeder that can be found pretty much anywhere with open habitat, from woodlands to cities. Note the uniform brown-gray coloring, dark spots on the wings, light-blue eye ring, and sharp, pointed tail. These doves can also easily be identified by their woeful cooing, which is often mistaken for the hoots of an owl.
Good bird fact: Here’s a new term for ya: pigeon milk. Secreted from the crops of doves and pigeons (part of their digestive system), this chunky, yellow substance is highly nutritious and fed to baby birds after being regurgitated by the parent. Yum!
Listen to the Mourning Dove's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
American Crow
Sure, you know what a crow looks like. But do you know what type of crow you’re looking at? Often found in a variety of semi-open habitat, American Crows are large, all-black birds that can easily be identified by their harsh caw! call, which knowing is key to differentiating the American Crow from the almost-identical-looking Fish Crow and Northwestern Crow. This guide will help you tell the three apart, and this one will explain the key differences between crows and Common Ravens.
Good bird fact: Aesop knew what he was talking about. Crows and ravens, which belong to the gifted corvid family, are incredibly smart and curious, with the ability to use tools and problem solve.
Listen to the American Crow's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
European Starling
Talk about a bird that’s truly everywhere. Walk outside, look around, and chances are good you’ll see a starling. An introduced species to the U.S., these birds are now omnipresent—much to the disadvantage of many other species. Often found in huge flocks in the winter and fall, this medium-size forager sports a spiky yellow bill and richly detailed black feathers that have an oily sheen to them. Their call often has a metallic or squeaky sound.
Good bird fact: The European Starling was famously introduced in 1890 by Eugene Schieffelin, who, according to legend, thought that America should have every bird mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays. So he released two waves of the birds in Central Park, and now they've taken over the entire U.S. Thanks, Eugene.
Listen to the European Starling's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
Northern Mockingbird
You've definitely heard a Northern Mockingbird before. You know that bird that keeps you up in the middle of the night with its endless stream of songs? That's a mocker. One of the most common suburban birds across the U.S., the Northern Mockingbird is a master mimic, able to imitate hundreds of birds' songs and calls. With their gray bodies marked by black wings and flashy white wing bars, mockingbirds can often be found atop a tree or the eve of a nearby roof—singing away, of course.
Good bird fact: In addition to other species' songs, Northern Mockingbirds have been known to imitate machinery, perform near-perfect versions of human sounds like music and car alarms, and can even mimic frogs and toads.
Listen to the Northern Mockingbird's below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
Black-billed Magpie
A staple of the American West, this large bird is hard to miss with its black head and back, white breast, long tail, and iridescent feathers. Members of the corvid family along with crows, jays, and ravens, magpies can be found at all elevations in urban and rural habitats, often strutting around open areas foraging for food. The Black-billed Magpie is not a discriminatory eater, either, consuming everything from grasshoppers and beetles to carrion and small rodents.
Good bird fact: Black-billed Magpies construct massive round nests that can reach up to three feet in diameter and look like large bushel baskets. On each side they create entry and exit holes.
Listen to the Black-billed Magpie's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
Dark-eyed Junco
Juncos are a popular and widespread winter visitor to almost all of the United States from the boreal forests of the North and high mountains. They prefer mixed woods and coniferous habitat, but they are staples of backyards, where they bounce around under feeders foraging and eating spilled seeds. The eastern version of the junco—the dark-eyed one above—features a white belly and a slate head and back, but there are a few different subspecies of the bird that vary geographically.
Good bird fact: Dark-eyed Juncos are colloquially known as “snowbirds” due to their sudden appearance throughout much of the country when the temperature starts dropping. The term is often used for a variety of winter birds, but juncos are the true snowbirds.
Listen to the Dark-eyed Junco's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
Black-capped Chickadee
A permanent resident across the northern U.S. and in parts of the Appalachian Mountains, Black-capped Chickadees are energetic little birds that prefer mixed, open woods and forest edges. Easy to identify by their white cheeks sandwiched between a black cap and chin, chickadees also live in suburban environments and are popular feeder visitors, where they can readily be identified by quick bursts of their namesake call: chick-a-dee-dee-dee.
Good bird fact: While juncos have several subspecies, there are quite a few different actual species of chickadees across the U.S., and they all look pretty similar. This guide can help you figure out which type of chickadee you’ve got in your area.
Listen to the Black-capped Chickadee's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
White-breasted Nuthatch
With a preference for being upside down, the nuthatch is one of the more acrobatic birds on this list, often spotted skulking along the tree limbs and down trunks throughout much of the U.S. The nuthatch’s pale belly, slate back, and black cap combined with its streamlined shape give it a look like no other backyard bird. When not visible, its nasal yank-yank call gives away its presence.
Good bird fact: Nuthatches have a penchant for caching food. In backyards, this bird conspicuously shuttles seeds from feeders and suet blocks to various hiding spots in loose tree bark for later snacking.
Listen to the White-breasted Nuthatch's call, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
Tufted Titmouse
Where there are chickadees, nuthatches, and juncos, you’re almost guaranteed to find a titmouse, if not several. At home in the deciduous and mixed forests of the East, this gray little bird is the only one of its size with a spiky crest, setting it apart from the other birds at feeders. Note the rust-colored wash under the wings and the little bit of black above the beak. The call, a confident and clear peter-peter-peter, is unmistakable.
Good bird fact: The name titmouse has no connection to rodents; “mouse” here is derived from an old English word for a small bird. To start an argument among bird lovers, ask them, “Should the plural be titmouses or titmice?” Then sit back and enjoy the show.
Listen to the Tufted Titmouse's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
House Sparrow
If you walk outside, look around, and don’t see a starling, you’ll definitely see a House Sparrow. Also extremely common, these birds thrive in human environments, where they can be found foraging on sidewalks and fluffed up in bushes. Another introduced species, House Sparrows hang in groups and wear a hodgepodge of colors: brown backs, gray chests and caps, and a blatant black patch covering their chins and throats.
Good bird fact: House Sparrows live in organized, military-like units that are led by the male with the biggest black patch. So next time you see a group, look for the bird with the most black on its breast and you’ve likely found the leader.
Listen to the House Sparrow's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
House Wren
If you've ever been scolded by a plucky little brown bird, chances are good it was a House Wren. As the name suggests, this common wren species thives in urban and suburban spaces, gracing backyards, parks, and hedgerows with its cheerful, bubbly song. These birds can be furtive, but when defending their territory or nests, they become conspicuous, bouncing from perch to perch with their lightly striped tails held high, incessantly chattering at the intruder.
Good bird fact: House Wrens nest in natural or manmade cubbies, but before they do, male House Wrens will often build several partially completed potential nests for their partners to choose from. Once a nest is chosen, the female completes the build by adding lining.
Listen to the House Wren's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
House Finch
Possibly the most common visitor to feeders throughout the U.S., House Finches are found in suburbs and urban areas. A small bird, males stand out thanks to a dollop of red on their faces that diminishes as it stretches down their necks and breasts. Females are all brown with light striping on their breasts. Male House Finches are easily confused with similar-looking Purple Finches, but this handy guide will keep you straight.
Good bird fact: Once only found in the American Southwest, the House Finches were introduced to the East by a New York pet-shop owners illegally selling finches. To avoid prosecution, they released their birds in 1940. By the 1990s, an eastern population had spread all the way to the bird’s original western range.
Listen to the House Finch's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
American Goldfinch
Just as comfortable clinging to feeders as it is to the purple tops of thistle plants, the goldfinch is a cheery drop of sunshine during the summer and spring months across the northern U.S., where it's a year-round resident. In winter, where it can also be found in the southern U.S., males trade their distinctive black cap and golden feathers for olive-colored plumage, matching the female. Both birds have telltale white wing bars. To attract goldfinches, hang a tube feeder filled with nyjer seeds.
Good bird fact: American Goldfinches are so closely associated with thistle that John James Audubon portrayed them on the plant in his seminal guide Birds of America. “Whenever a thistle was to be seen on either bank of the New York canal, it was ornamented with one or more Goldfinches,” he wrote of one walk along the Mohawk river.
Listen to the American Goldfinch's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
Downy Woodpecker
Woodpeckers! Woodpeckers are such good birds. They’re fairly easy to find thanks to all that hammering, and they’re fun to watch. The downy is the smallest and most abundant woodpecker we have, occurring across the U.S. year-round, save for the arid Southwest. Easy to attract to your yard with a suet feeder, Downy Woodpeckers can be found in a variety of habitats, from deep woods to urban parks and backyards.
Good bird fact: How do woodpecker keep from knocking themselves out? All species have an enlarged and reinforced brain case, allowing the brain to sit higher than the impact zone, where the skull is also thicker. Thanks to this and extra muscles behind the beak, woodpeckers essentially have built-in shock absorbers.
Listen to the Downy Woodpecker's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
Hairy Woodpecker
Nope, you’re not seeing double—Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers look almost exactly alike. Adding to the frustration of many a new birder, they also share pretty much the exact same territory across the U.S. However, with a little training, the birds are easily differentiated by their body and bill size; the hairy is much bigger on both accounts, with a thicker body and heavier bill. Like the downy, it enjoys suet but visits feeders less often.
Good bird fact: Despite the name, this woodpecker has feathers, not hair. It gets its name from some long, stringy feathers in the center of its back—a feature lacking in its smaller look-alike.
Listen to the Hairy Woodpecker's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.
Red-bellied Woodpecker
“Wait, where’s the red belly?” This is the typical response most people have when they first learn the name of this medium-size woodpecker, which can be found throughout the American South, stretching up into the Mid-Atlantic states and into the Midwest. A good look will reveal the wash of color that earned the bird its name, but this species is more easily identified by its bright red cap, white-striped back, and rolling call.
Good bird fact: To reach bugs and other goodies as they peck away, woodpeckers need extra-long tongues, which wrap around the inside of their skull when retracted. The Red-bellied Woodpecker’s tongue can reach two inches past its beak.
Listen to the Red-bellied Woodpecker's call below, and learn more about its range and behaviors here.