Wisconsin bird checklist

508 bird species in 73 families have been recorded in Wisconsin, according to eBird; about 343 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 Wisconsin right now

  1. 1House Sparrow
  2. 2Ring-billed Gull
  3. 3Yellow-rumped Warbler
  4. 4American Robin
  5. 5Great Egret
  6. 6Turkey Vulture
  7. 7Mourning Dove
  8. 8American Crow
  9. 9Red-winged Blackbird
  10. 10Canada Goose
The top 20, and how they are ranked

Wisconsin bird checklist

508 species · loading the checklist tools…

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

  • Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
  • Fulvous Whistling-Duck
  • Emperor Goose
  • Snow Goose
  • Ross's Goose
  • Graylag Goose
  • Swan Goose
  • Greater White-fronted Goose
  • Brant
  • Barnacle Goose
  • Cackling Goose
  • Canada Goose
  • Mute Swan
  • Black Swan
  • Trumpeter Swan
  • Tundra Swan
  • Whooper Swan
  • Egyptian Goose
  • Common Shelduck
  • Muscovy Duck
  • Wood Duck
  • Mandarin Duck
  • Garganey
  • Blue-winged Teal
  • Cinnamon Teal
  • Northern Shoveler
  • Gadwall
  • Eurasian Wigeon
  • American Wigeon
  • Mallard
  • American Black Duck
  • White-cheeked Pintail
  • 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
  • Smew
  • Hooded Merganser
  • Common Merganser
  • Red-breasted Merganser
  • Masked Duck
  • Ruddy Duck

Guineafowl

  • Helmeted Guineafowl

New World Quail

  • Mountain Quail
  • Northern Bobwhite
  • Gambel's Quail

Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies

  • Wild Turkey
  • Ruffed Grouse
  • Sharp-tailed Grouse
  • Greater Prairie-Chicken
  • Spruce Grouse
  • Gray Partridge
  • Golden Pheasant
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
  • Green Pheasant
  • Swinhoe's Pheasant
  • Indian Peafowl
  • Red Junglefowl
  • Red-legged Partridge
  • 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

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

Swifts

  • Chimney Swift

Hummingbirds

  • Mexican Violetear
  • Green-breasted Mango
  • Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  • Anna's Hummingbird
  • Rufous Hummingbird
  • Allen's Hummingbird
  • Broad-billed Hummingbird
  • Buff-bellied Hummingbird

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

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

Limpkin

  • Limpkin

Cranes

  • Sandhill Crane
  • Whooping Crane

Stilts and Avocets

  • Black-necked Stilt
  • American Avocet

Plovers and Lapwings

  • Black-bellied Plover
  • American Golden-Plover
  • Killdeer
  • Semipalmated Plover
  • Piping Plover
  • Wilson's Plover
  • Snowy Plover

Sandpipers and Allies

  • Upland Sandpiper
  • Hudsonian Whimbrel
  • Eskimo Curlew
  • Long-billed Curlew
  • Bar-tailed Godwit
  • 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
  • Spotted Redshank
  • Greater Yellowlegs
  • Ruddy Turnstone
  • Black Turnstone
  • Red Knot
  • Ruff
  • Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
  • Curlew Sandpiper
  • Stilt Sandpiper
  • Buff-breasted Sandpiper
  • Sanderling
  • Dunlin
  • Purple Sandpiper
  • 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

  • Long-billed Murrelet
  • Dovekie
  • Ancient Murrelet

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

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

Flamingos

  • American Flamingo

Grebes

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

Loons

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

Shearwaters and Petrels

  • Short-tailed Shearwater

Storks

  • Marabou Stork
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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

  • Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  • Lewis's Woodpecker
  • Red-headed Woodpecker
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • American Three-toed Woodpecker
  • Black-backed 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

  • Rose-ringed Parakeet
  • 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
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Say's Phoebe
  • Vermilion Flycatcher
  • Ash-throated Flycatcher
  • Great Crested Flycatcher
  • Tropical Kingbird
  • Cassin's Kingbird
  • Western Kingbird
  • Eastern Kingbird
  • Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
  • Fork-tailed Flycatcher

Vireos, Shrike-Babblers, and Erpornis

  • White-eyed Vireo
  • Bell's Vireo
  • Gray Vireo
  • Yellow-throated 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
  • Blue Jay
  • Mexican Jay
  • Black-billed Magpie
  • Clark's Nutcracker
  • American Crow
  • Fish Crow
  • Common Raven

Tits, Chickadees, and Titmice

  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Boreal Chickadee
  • Eurasian Blue Tit
  • Azure Tit
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Great Tit

Larks

  • Horned Lark

Swallows

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

Leaf Warblers

  • Yellow-browed Warbler

Kinglets

  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet

Nuthatches

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

Treecreepers

  • Brown Creeper

Gnatcatchers

  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Wrens

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

Starlings

  • European Starling

Mockingbirds and Thrashers

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

Thrushes and Allies

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

Old World Flycatchers

  • Northern Wheatear

Waxwings

  • Bohemian Waxwing
  • Cedar Waxwing

Silky-flycatchers

  • Phainopepla

Weavers and Allies

  • Northern Red Bishop

Waxbills and Allies

  • Red-browed Firetail
  • Orange-cheeked Waxbill

Old World Sparrows

  • House Sparrow
  • Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Wagtails and Pipits

  • White Wagtail
  • American Pipit
  • Sprague's Pipit

Finches, Euphonias, and Allies

  • Common Chaffinch
  • Brambling
  • Evening Grosbeak
  • Pine Grosbeak
  • Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
  • House Finch
  • Purple Finch
  • European Greenfinch
  • Redpoll
  • Red Crossbill
  • White-winged Crossbill
  • European Goldfinch
  • Eurasian Siskin
  • Pine Siskin
  • Lesser Goldfinch
  • American Goldfinch

Longspurs and Snow Buntings

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

Old World Buntings

  • Yellowhammer

New World Sparrows

  • Grasshopper Sparrow
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Clay-colored Sparrow
  • Field 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
  • Vesper Sparrow
  • LeConte's Sparrow
  • Nelson's Sparrow
  • Savannah Sparrow
  • Baird's Sparrow
  • Henslow's Sparrow
  • Song Sparrow
  • Lincoln's Sparrow
  • Swamp Sparrow
  • Rufous-crowned 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
  • Streak-backed 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
  • Kirtland's Warbler
  • 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
  • Black-throated Gray Warbler
  • Townsend's Warbler
  • Hermit Warbler
  • Black-throated Green Warbler
  • Canada Warbler
  • Wilson's Warbler
  • Painted Redstart

Cardinals and Allies

  • Summer Tanager
  • Scarlet Tanager
  • Western Tanager
  • Flame-colored Tanager
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Pyrrhuloxia
  • Rose-breasted Grosbeak
  • Black-headed Grosbeak
  • Blue Grosbeak
  • Lazuli Bunting
  • Indigo Bunting
  • Varied Bunting
  • Painted Bunting
  • Dickcissel

Tanagers and Allies

  • Red-crested Cardinal

Most common birds in Wisconsin

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 Wisconsin’s regular birds. The list follows the seasons: migrants rise in spring and autumn.

  1. House SparrowPasser domesticus
  2. Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensis
  3. Yellow-rumped WarblerSetophaga coronata
  4. American RobinTurdus migratorius
  5. Great EgretArdea alba
  6. Turkey VultureCathartes aura
  7. Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
  8. American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
  9. Red-winged BlackbirdAgelaius phoeniceus
  10. Canada GooseBranta canadensis
  11. Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
  12. Dark-eyed JuncoJunco hyemalis
  13. Ruby-crowned KingletCorthylio calendula
  14. Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
  15. European StarlingSturnus vulgaris
  16. MallardAnas platyrhynchos
  17. American GoldfinchSpinus tristis
  18. Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorum
  19. American CootFulica americana
  20. Blue JayCyanocitta cristata

Largest bird families in Wisconsin

Among its regular birds.

  • Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl42
  • New World Warblers32
  • Sandpipers and Allies30
  • Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers26
  • New World Sparrows20
  • Troupials and Allies11
  • Hawks, Eagles, and Kites11
  • Tyrant Flycatchers11

Reported in the last 30 days

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

House Sparrow, American Goldfinch, American Robin, White-breasted Nuthatch, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Orange-crowned Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Purple Finch, Turkey Vulture, American Crow, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Harrier, Swamp Sparrow, Black-capped Chickadee, Belted Kingfisher, Red-winged Blackbird, Great Egret, Ring-billed Gull, Northern Cardinal, White-throated Sparrow, Wild Turkey, Red-breasted Nuthatch, House Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Mourning Dove, Winter Wren, Swainson's Thrush, Cedar Waxwing, Wood Duck, Rusty Blackbird, Wilson's Snipe, Fox Sparrow, Canada Goose, Hermit Thrush, Gray Catbird, Great Blue Heron, …

Other regions of United States