Bird Guide
Guide to North American Birds
Explore more than 800 North American bird species, learn about their lives and habitats, and how climate change is impacting their ability to survive.
17 birds
Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
Cardinals, Grosbeaks and Buntings
At a Glance
One of our most popular birds, the Cardinal is the official state bird of no fewer than seven eastern states. Abundant in the Southeast, it has been extending its range northward for decades, and it now brightens winter days with its color and its whistled song as far north as southeastern Canada. Feeders stocked with sunflower seeds may have aided its northward spread. West of the Great Plains, the Cardinal is mostly absent, but it is locally common in the desert Southwest.
Conservation Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Arroyos and Canyons, Desert and Arid Habitats, Fields, Meadows, and Grasslands, Forests and Woodlands, Freshwater Wetlands, Shrublands, Savannas, and Thickets, Urban and Suburban Habitats
Indigo Bunting
Passerina cyanea
Cardinals, Grosbeaks and Buntings
At a Glance
In parts of the East, Indigo Bunting may be the most abundant songbird, with the deep-blue males singing along every roadside. The plain brown females are seen far less often, and they have good reason to be inconspicuous: they do almost all the work of caring for the eggs and young, hidden away in dense thickets. This species favors brushy edges rather than unbroken forest, and is probably far more common today than when the Pilgrims landed.
Conservation Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Arroyos and Canyons, Fields, Meadows, and Grasslands, Forests and Woodlands, Shrublands, Savannas, and Thickets, Urban and Suburban Habitats
Scarlet Tanager
Piranga olivacea
Cardinals, Grosbeaks and Buntings
At a Glance
Male Scarlet Tanagers seem almost too bright and exotic for northeastern woodlands. These birds are fairly common in oak forests in summer, but they often remain out of sight as they forage in the leafy upper branches. Sometimes in spring, when the Scarlet Tanagers have just arrived from their winter home in South America, a late freeze will force them out in the open as they search for insects on roadsides or in gardens.
Conservation Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Forests and Woodlands, Shrublands, Savannas, and Thickets
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Pheucticus ludovicianus
Cardinals, Grosbeaks and Buntings
At a Glance
In leafy woodlands of the East, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak often stays out of sight among the treetops. However, its song -- rich whistled phrases, like an improved version of the American Robin's voice -- is heard frequently in spring and summer. Where the range of this species overlaps with that of the Black-headed Grosbeak on the Great Plains, the two sometimes interbreed.
Conservation Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Forests and Woodlands, Shrublands, Savannas, and Thickets, Urban and Suburban Habitats
Painted Bunting
Passerina ciris
Cardinals, Grosbeaks and Buntings
At a Glance
Sometimes called the 'Nonpareil,' meaning 'unrivalled,' a fair way to describe the unbelievable colors of the male Painted Bunting. This species is locally common in the Southeast, around brushy areas and woodland edges. It is often secretive, staying low in dense cover. However, males sing their bright warbling songs from higher in the trees, partly hidden among foliage or sometimes out in the sun on an exposed perch. Some lucky Floridians have Painted Buntings coming to their bird feeders in winter.
Conservation Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Fields, Meadows, and Grasslands, Forests and Woodlands, Freshwater Wetlands, Shrublands, Savannas, and Thickets, Urban and Suburban Habitats
Western Tanager
Piranga ludoviciana
Cardinals, Grosbeaks and Buntings
At a Glance
A western counterpart to the Scarlet Tanager, this species occurs in summer farther north than any other tanager -- far up into northwestern Canada. Western Tanagers nest in coniferous forests of the north and the high mountains, but during migration they may show up in any habitat, including grassland and desert; the bright males often draw attention by pausing in suburban yards in late spring.
Conservation Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Arroyos and Canyons, Coasts and Shorelines, Desert and Arid Habitats, Forests and Woodlands, High Mountains, Shrublands, Savannas, and Thickets
Summer Tanager
Piranga rubra
Cardinals, Grosbeaks and Buntings
At a Glance
A languid song in southern woods, sounding like a lazy robin, is the voice of the Summer Tanager. Seeing the bird may require some patience, because it usually moves rather slowly in the treetops, often remaining hidden among the leaves. At times, however, it flies out conspicuously to catch flying insects in mid-air. This bird apparently has no fear of stinging insects, often raiding wasp nests and occasionally becoming a minor nuisance around beehives.
Conservation Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Arroyos and Canyons, Forests and Woodlands, Shrublands, Savannas, and Thickets
Black-headed Grosbeak
Pheucticus melanocephalus
Cardinals, Grosbeaks and Buntings
At a Glance
In foothills and riverside woods of the West, this species is often very common as a nesting bird. In mid-summer, the oak woodlands often resound with the insistent whining whistle of young Black-headed Grosbeaks begging for food. This is among few birds able to eat Monarch butterflies, despite the noxious chemicals those insects contain from eating milkweeds in the larval stage; in Mexico in winter, the grosbeaks eat large numbers of Monarchs.
Conservation Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Arroyos and Canyons, Desert and Arid Habitats, Forests and Woodlands, High Mountains, Shrublands, Savannas, and Thickets