Nebraska bird checklist

490 bird species in 67 families have been recorded in Nebraska, according to eBird; about 361 of them are seen regularly, and the rest are rarities, vagrants and escaped or introduced birds. Download the full list as a PDF, or tick birds off on your phone, with counts and notes, even without signal.

The most common birds in Nebraska right now

  1. 1Yellow-rumped Warbler
  2. 2Rock Pigeon
  3. 3Double-crested Cormorant
  4. 4European Starling
  5. 5Canada Goose
  6. 6House Sparrow
  7. 7Mourning Dove
  8. 8Ring-billed Gull
  9. 9American Robin
  10. 10Turkey Vulture
The top 20, and how they are ranked

Nebraska bird checklist

490 species · loading the checklist tools…

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

  • Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
  • Fulvous Whistling-Duck
  • Bar-headed Goose
  • Emperor Goose
  • Snow Goose
  • Ross's Goose
  • Graylag Goose
  • Swan Goose
  • Greater White-fronted Goose
  • Taiga Bean-Goose
  • Pink-footed Goose
  • Brant
  • Cackling Goose
  • Canada Goose
  • Mute Swan
  • Trumpeter Swan
  • Tundra Swan
  • Whooper Swan
  • Egyptian Goose
  • Ruddy Shelduck
  • Muscovy Duck
  • Wood Duck
  • Mandarin Duck
  • Garganey
  • Blue-winged Teal
  • Cinnamon Teal
  • Northern Shoveler
  • Gadwall
  • Eurasian Wigeon
  • American Wigeon
  • Mallard
  • Mexican Duck
  • American Black Duck
  • Mottled Duck
  • Northern Pintail
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Canvasback
  • Redhead
  • Ring-necked Duck
  • Tufted Duck
  • Greater Scaup
  • Lesser Scaup
  • King Eider
  • Common Eider
  • Harlequin Duck
  • Surf Scoter
  • White-winged Scoter
  • Black Scoter
  • Long-tailed Duck
  • Bufflehead
  • Common Goldeneye
  • Barrow's Goldeneye
  • Hooded Merganser
  • Common Merganser
  • Red-breasted Merganser
  • Ruddy Duck

Guineafowl

  • Helmeted Guineafowl

New World Quail

  • Northern Bobwhite

Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies

  • Wild Turkey
  • Ruffed Grouse
  • Greater Sage-Grouse
  • Sharp-tailed Grouse
  • Greater Prairie-Chicken
  • Lesser Prairie-Chicken
  • Gray Partridge
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
  • Indian Peafowl
  • Red Junglefowl
  • Chukar

Pigeons and Doves

  • Rock Pigeon
  • Band-tailed Pigeon
  • Passenger Pigeon
  • Eurasian Collared-Dove
  • African Collared-Dove
  • Inca Dove
  • Common Ground Dove
  • White-winged Dove
  • Mourning Dove

Cuckoos

  • Groove-billed Ani
  • Yellow-billed Cuckoo
  • Black-billed Cuckoo

Nightjars and Allies

  • Common Nighthawk
  • Common Poorwill
  • Chuck-will's-widow
  • Eastern Whip-poor-will

Swifts

  • Chimney Swift
  • White-throated Swift

Hummingbirds

  • Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  • Black-chinned Hummingbird
  • Anna's Hummingbird
  • Costa's Hummingbird
  • Calliope Hummingbird
  • Rufous Hummingbird
  • Broad-tailed Hummingbird
  • Broad-billed Hummingbird

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

  • King Rail
  • Clapper Rail
  • Virginia Rail
  • Sora
  • Common Gallinule
  • American Coot
  • Purple Gallinule
  • Yellow Rail
  • Black Rail

Limpkin

  • Limpkin

Cranes

  • Sandhill Crane
  • Whooping Crane
  • Common Crane
  • Hooded Crane

Stilts and Avocets

  • Black-necked Stilt
  • American Avocet

Plovers and Lapwings

  • Black-bellied Plover
  • American Golden-Plover
  • Killdeer
  • Semipalmated Plover
  • Piping Plover
  • Mountain Plover
  • Snowy Plover

Sandpipers and Allies

  • Upland Sandpiper
  • Hudsonian Whimbrel
  • Eskimo Curlew
  • Long-billed Curlew
  • Hudsonian Godwit
  • Marbled Godwit
  • Short-billed Dowitcher
  • Long-billed Dowitcher
  • American Woodcock
  • Wilson's Snipe
  • Wilson's Phalarope
  • Red Phalarope
  • Red-necked Phalarope
  • Spotted Sandpiper
  • Solitary Sandpiper
  • Lesser Yellowlegs
  • Willet
  • Greater Yellowlegs
  • Ruddy Turnstone
  • Red Knot
  • Ruff
  • Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
  • Curlew Sandpiper
  • Stilt Sandpiper
  • Buff-breasted Sandpiper
  • Sanderling
  • Dunlin
  • Baird's Sandpiper
  • White-rumped Sandpiper
  • Least Sandpiper
  • Pectoral Sandpiper
  • Western Sandpiper
  • Semipalmated Sandpiper

Skuas and Jaegers

  • Long-tailed Jaeger
  • Parasitic Jaeger
  • Pomarine Jaeger

Auks, Murres, and Puffins

  • Ancient Murrelet

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

  • Little Gull
  • Ross's Gull
  • Black-legged Kittiwake
  • Sabine's Gull
  • Bonaparte's Gull
  • Black-headed Gull
  • Laughing Gull
  • Franklin's Gull
  • Short-billed Gull
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Western Gull
  • American Herring Gull
  • Great Black-backed Gull
  • Glaucous Gull
  • Lesser Black-backed Gull
  • California Gull
  • Glaucous-winged Gull
  • Iceland Gull
  • Least Tern
  • Caspian Tern
  • Black Tern
  • Forster's Tern
  • Arctic Tern
  • Common Tern
  • Royal Tern

Grebes

  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • Horned Grebe
  • Red-necked Grebe
  • Eared Grebe
  • Western Grebe
  • Clark's Grebe

Loons

  • Red-throated Loon
  • Pacific Loon
  • Common Loon
  • Yellow-billed Loon

Storks

  • Wood Stork

Frigatebirds

  • Magnificent Frigatebird

Boobies and Gannets

  • Brown Booby

Anhingas

  • Anhinga

Cormorants and Shags

  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Neotropic Cormorant

Ibises and Spoonbills

  • White Ibis
  • Glossy Ibis
  • White-faced Ibis
  • Roseate Spoonbill

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns

  • American Bittern
  • Least Bittern
  • Yellow-crowned Night Heron
  • Black-crowned Night Heron
  • Little Blue Heron
  • Tricolored Heron
  • Reddish Egret
  • Snowy Egret
  • Green Heron
  • Western Cattle-Egret
  • Great Egret
  • Great Blue Heron

Pelicans

  • American White Pelican
  • Brown Pelican

New World Vultures

  • Black Vulture
  • Turkey Vulture

Osprey

  • Osprey

Hawks, Eagles, and Kites

  • White-tailed Kite
  • Swallow-tailed Kite
  • Golden Eagle
  • Sharp-shinned Hawk
  • Cooper's Hawk
  • American Goshawk
  • Northern Harrier
  • Bald Eagle
  • Mississippi Kite
  • Harris's Hawk
  • Broad-winged Hawk
  • Red-shouldered Hawk
  • Zone-tailed Hawk
  • Swainson's Hawk
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • Rough-legged Hawk
  • Ferruginous Hawk

Barn-Owls

  • American Barn Owl

Owls

  • Eastern Screech-Owl
  • Snowy Owl
  • Great Horned Owl
  • Northern Hawk Owl
  • Burrowing Owl
  • Barred Owl
  • Great Gray Owl
  • Long-eared Owl
  • Short-eared Owl
  • Boreal Owl
  • Northern Saw-whet Owl

Kingfishers

  • Belted Kingfisher

Woodpeckers

  • Williamson's Sapsucker
  • Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  • Red-naped Sapsucker
  • Lewis's Woodpecker
  • Red-headed Woodpecker
  • Acorn Woodpecker
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • American Three-toed Woodpecker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Pileated Woodpecker
  • Northern Flicker

Falcons and Caracaras

  • Crested Caracara
  • American Kestrel
  • Merlin
  • Gyrfalcon
  • Peregrine Falcon
  • Prairie Falcon

Cockatoos

  • Cockatiel

Old World Parrots

  • Budgerigar
  • Rosy-faced Lovebird

New World and African Parrots

  • Monk Parakeet
  • Carolina Parakeet

Tyrant Flycatchers

  • Olive-sided Flycatcher
  • Western Wood-Pewee
  • Eastern Wood-Pewee
  • Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
  • Acadian Flycatcher
  • Alder Flycatcher
  • Willow Flycatcher
  • Least Flycatcher
  • Hammond's Flycatcher
  • Gray Flycatcher
  • Dusky Flycatcher
  • Western Flycatcher
  • Black Phoebe
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Say's Phoebe
  • Vermilion Flycatcher
  • Ash-throated Flycatcher
  • Great Crested Flycatcher
  • Great Kiskadee
  • Couch's Kingbird
  • Cassin's Kingbird
  • Western Kingbird
  • Eastern Kingbird
  • Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Vireos, Shrike-Babblers, and Erpornis

  • Black-capped Vireo
  • White-eyed Vireo
  • Bell's Vireo
  • Yellow-throated Vireo
  • Cassin's Vireo
  • Blue-headed Vireo
  • Plumbeous Vireo
  • Philadelphia Vireo
  • Eastern Warbling Vireo
  • Western Warbling Vireo
  • Red-eyed Vireo

Shrikes

  • Loggerhead Shrike
  • Northern Shrike

Crows, Jays, and Magpies

  • Canada Jay
  • Pinyon Jay
  • Steller's Jay
  • Blue Jay
  • Black-billed Magpie
  • Clark's Nutcracker
  • American Crow
  • Fish Crow
  • Chihuahuan Raven
  • Common Raven

Tits, Chickadees, and Titmice

  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Mountain Chickadee
  • Tufted Titmouse

Larks

  • Horned Lark

Swallows

  • Bank Swallow
  • Tree Swallow
  • Violet-green Swallow
  • Purple Martin
  • Northern Rough-winged Swallow
  • Barn Swallow
  • Cliff Swallow
  • Cave Swallow

Kinglets

  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet

Nuthatches

  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Pygmy Nuthatch
  • Brown-headed Nuthatch
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch

Treecreepers

  • Brown Creeper

Gnatcatchers

  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Wrens

  • Rock Wren
  • Canyon Wren
  • Northern House Wren
  • Pacific Wren
  • Winter Wren
  • Sedge Wren
  • Marsh Wren
  • Carolina Wren
  • Bewick's Wren

Dippers

  • American Dipper

Starlings

  • European Starling

Mockingbirds and Thrashers

  • Gray Catbird
  • Curve-billed Thrasher
  • Brown Thrasher
  • Sage Thrasher
  • Northern Mockingbird

Thrushes and Allies

  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Western Bluebird
  • Mountain Bluebird
  • Townsend's Solitaire
  • Varied Thrush
  • Veery
  • Gray-cheeked Thrush
  • Swainson's Thrush
  • Hermit Thrush
  • Wood Thrush
  • American Robin

Waxwings

  • Bohemian Waxwing
  • Cedar Waxwing

Silky-flycatchers

  • Phainopepla

Weavers and Allies

  • Northern Red Bishop

Old World Sparrows

  • House Sparrow
  • Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Wagtails and Pipits

  • American Pipit
  • Sprague's Pipit

Finches, Euphonias, and Allies

  • Brambling
  • Evening Grosbeak
  • Pine Grosbeak
  • Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
  • Black Rosy-Finch
  • House Finch
  • Purple Finch
  • Cassin's Finch
  • Redpoll
  • Red Crossbill
  • White-winged Crossbill
  • Pine Siskin
  • Lesser Goldfinch
  • American Goldfinch

Longspurs and Snow Buntings

  • Lapland Longspur
  • Chestnut-collared Longspur
  • Smith's Longspur
  • Thick-billed Longspur
  • Snow Bunting

New World Sparrows

  • Cassin's Sparrow
  • Grasshopper Sparrow
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Clay-colored Sparrow
  • Field Sparrow
  • Brewer's Sparrow
  • Black-throated Sparrow
  • Lark Sparrow
  • Lark Bunting
  • American Tree Sparrow
  • Fox Sparrow
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • White-crowned Sparrow
  • Golden-crowned Sparrow
  • Harris's Sparrow
  • White-throated Sparrow
  • Sagebrush Sparrow
  • Vesper Sparrow
  • LeConte's Sparrow
  • Nelson's Sparrow
  • Savannah Sparrow
  • Baird's Sparrow
  • Henslow's Sparrow
  • Song Sparrow
  • Lincoln's Sparrow
  • Swamp Sparrow
  • Green-tailed Towhee
  • Spotted Towhee
  • Eastern Towhee

Yellow-breasted Chat

  • Yellow-breasted Chat

Troupials and Allies

  • Yellow-headed Blackbird
  • Bobolink
  • Western Meadowlark
  • Eastern Meadowlark
  • Orchard Oriole
  • Hooded Oriole
  • Bullock's Oriole
  • Baltimore Oriole
  • Scott's Oriole
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Rusty Blackbird
  • Brewer's Blackbird
  • Common Grackle
  • Great-tailed Grackle

New World Warblers

  • Ovenbird
  • Worm-eating Warbler
  • Louisiana Waterthrush
  • Northern Waterthrush
  • Golden-winged Warbler
  • Blue-winged Warbler
  • Black-and-white Warbler
  • Prothonotary Warbler
  • Swainson's Warbler
  • Tennessee Warbler
  • Orange-crowned Warbler
  • Nashville Warbler
  • Virginia's Warbler
  • Connecticut Warbler
  • MacGillivray's Warbler
  • Mourning Warbler
  • Kentucky Warbler
  • Common Yellowthroat
  • Hooded Warbler
  • American Redstart
  • Cape May Warbler
  • Cerulean Warbler
  • Northern Parula
  • Magnolia Warbler
  • Bay-breasted Warbler
  • Blackburnian Warbler
  • Northern Yellow Warbler
  • Chestnut-sided Warbler
  • Blackpoll Warbler
  • Black-throated Blue Warbler
  • Palm Warbler
  • Pine Warbler
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Yellow-throated Warbler
  • Prairie Warbler
  • Grace's Warbler
  • Black-throated Gray Warbler
  • Townsend's Warbler
  • Hermit Warbler
  • Black-throated Green Warbler
  • Canada Warbler
  • Wilson's Warbler

Cardinals and Allies

  • Hepatic Tanager
  • Summer Tanager
  • Scarlet Tanager
  • Western Tanager
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Rose-breasted Grosbeak
  • Black-headed Grosbeak
  • Blue Grosbeak
  • Lazuli Bunting
  • Indigo Bunting
  • Painted Bunting
  • Dickcissel

Most common birds in Nebraska

Ranked by how recently and how widely each was reported to eBird in the 30 days to 2026-10-13, and whether it is one of Nebraska’s regular birds. The list follows the seasons: migrants rise in spring and autumn.

  1. Yellow-rumped WarblerSetophaga coronata
  2. Rock PigeonColumba livia
  3. Double-crested CormorantNannopterum auritum
  4. European StarlingSturnus vulgaris
  5. Canada GooseBranta canadensis
  6. House SparrowPasser domesticus
  7. Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
  8. Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensis
  9. American RobinTurdus migratorius
  10. Turkey VultureCathartes aura
  11. Red-winged BlackbirdAgelaius phoeniceus
  12. American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
  13. American CootFulica americana
  14. American White PelicanPelecanus erythrorhynchos
  15. Dark-eyed JuncoJunco hyemalis
  16. Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
  17. MallardAnas platyrhynchos
  18. Blue JayCyanocitta cristata
  19. Northern FlickerColaptes auratus
  20. Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorum

Largest bird families in Nebraska

Among its regular birds.

  • Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl44
  • New World Warblers28
  • Sandpipers and Allies27
  • New World Sparrows24
  • Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers23
  • Tyrant Flycatchers17
  • Troupials and Allies12
  • Hawks, Eagles, and Kites12

Reported in the last 30 days

290 species reported to eBird in Nebraska in the 30 days to 2026-10-13. The 40 most recently reported:

European Starling, Rock Pigeon, Canada Goose, Blue Jay, Mourning Dove, American Robin, White-throated Sparrow, House Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco, Double-crested Cormorant, American White Pelican, Bald Eagle, Western Meadowlark, Osprey, Chipping Sparrow, Eastern Screech-Owl, Orange-crowned Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Franklin's Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Brown Creeper, Red-bellied Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Turkey Vulture, Common Grackle, Northern Flicker, American Crow, Wild Turkey, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Cedar Waxwing, Eastern Bluebird, American Goldfinch, Wood Duck, Great Blue Heron, Swamp Sparrow, …

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