USA checklist of birds

Mark 12 Comments

 

For what it’s worth, here is my bird list for five and a half weeks in the USA – just over 300 species and over 80 lifers (in bold).  On a careful run through Sibley I noticed I’d missed out a few species – western grebe (from California), black vulture (from Arizona) and roadrunner (of all things) from California too.  And then there was the hummingbird that got away…

If you know lots about American birds and doubt any of these records then do get in touch. However, most of them were actually seen in the company of birders who know their stuff!

My USA lifelist is now bigger than my UK lifelist.  Although, in both countries, there are plenty yet to see…

  1. Pacific loon
  2. Common loon
  3. Eared grebe
  4. Pied-billed grebe
  5. Western grebe
  6. Black-footed albatross
  7. Sooty shearwater
  8. American white pelican
  9. Brown pelican
  10. Double-crested cormorant
  11. Brandt’s cormorant
  12. Pelagic cormorant
  13. Great blue heron
  14. Great egret
  15. Snowy egret
  16. Cattle egret
  17. Green heron
  18. Black-crowned night-heron
  19. White ibis
  20. White-faced ibis
  21. Mute swan
  22. Canada goose
  23. Brant
  24. Snow goose
  25. Black-bellied whistling-duck
  26. Mallard
  27. American black duck
  28. Gadwall
  29. American wigeon
  30. Shoveler
  31. Cinnamon teal
  32. Blue-winged teal
  33. Hooded merganser
  34. Common merganser
  35. Ruddy duck
  36. Turkey vulture
  37. Black vulture
  38. Northern harrier
  39. White-tailed kite
  40. Mississippi kite
  41. Cooper’s hawk
  42. Harris’s hawk
  43. Gray hawk
  44. Red-shouldered hawk
  45. Broad winged hawk
  46. Swainson’s hawk
  47. Red-tailed hawk
  48. Golden eagle
  49. Bald eagle
  50. Osprey
  51. Merlin
  52. American kestrel
  53. Peregrine
  54. California quail
  55. Gambel’s quail
  56. Ring-necked pheasant
  57. Wild turkey
  58. Moorhen
  59. American coot
  60. Sora
  61. Sandhill crane
  62. Black-bellied plover
  63. Semipalmated plover
  64. Killdeer
  65. Black oystercatcher
  66. American avocet
  67. Black-necked stilt
  68. Greater yellowlegs
  69. Lesser yellowlegs
  70. Spotted sandpiper
  71. Upland sandpiper
  72. Long-billed curlew
  73. Ruddy turnstone
  74. Sanderling
  75. Dunlin
  76. White-rumped sandpiper
  77. Semipalmated sandpiper
  78. Least sandpiper
  79. Short-billed dowitcher
  80. Bonaparte’s gull
  81. Ring-billed gull
  82. California gull
  83. Herring gull
  84. Western gull
  85. Heermanns’ gull
  86. Caspian tern
  87. Elegant tern
  88. Common tern
  89. Forster’s tern
  90. Gull-billed tern
  91. Black skimmer
  92. Common murre
  93. Pigeon guillemot
  94. Cassin’s auklet
  95. Rhinoceros auklet
  96. Mourning dove
  97. Eurasian collared-dove
  98. Rock dove
  99. White-winged dove
  100. Inca dove
  101. Ruddy ground-dove
  102. Yellow-billed cuckoo
  103. Black-billed cuckoo
  104. Greater roadrunner
  105. Barn owl
  106. Barred owl
  107. Burrowing owl
  108. Northern pygmy owl
  109. Common nighthawk
  110. Lesser nighthawk
  111. Chimney swift
  112. White-throated swift
  113. Violet-crowned hummingbird
  114. Broad-billed hummingbird
  115. Magnificent hummingbird
  116. Black-chinned hummingbird
  117. Anna’s hummingbird
  118. Ruby-throated hummingbird
  119. Broad-tailed hummingbird
  120. Belted kingfisher
  121. Acorn woodpecker
  122. Red-headed woodpecker
  123. Gila woodpecker
  124. Red-bellied woodpecker
  125. Downy woodpecker
  126. Hairy woodpecker
  127. Nuttall’s woodpecker
  128. Ladder-backed woodpecker
  129. Arizona woodpecker
  130. Northern flicker
  131. Gilded flicker
  132. Pileated woodpecker
  133. Northern beardless-tyrranulet
  134. Greater pewee
  135. Eastern wood-peewee
  136. Western wood-peewee
  137. Cordilleran flycatcher
  138. Acadian flycatcher
  139. Willow flycatcher
  140. Alder flycatcher
  141. Least flycatcher
  142. Buff-breasted flycatcher
  143. Black phoebe
  144. Eastern phoebe
  145. Say’s phoebe
  146. Vermilion flycatcher
  147. Dusky-capped flycatcher
  148. Ash-throated flycatcher
  149. Great crested flycatcher
  150. Thick-billed kingbird
  151. Eastern kingbird
  152. Tropical kingbird
  153. Cassin’s kingbird
  154. Western kingbird
  155. Scissor-tailed flycatcher
  156. Loggerhead shrike
  157. Red-eyed vireo
  158. Warbling vireo
  159. Philadelphia vireo
  160. Bell’s vireo
  161. Hutton’s vireo
  162. Plumbeous vireo
  163. Steller’s jay
  164. Blue jay
  165. Western scrub-jay
  166. Mexican jay
  167. Pinyon jay
  168. Clark’s nutcracker
  169. Black-billed magpie
  170. Yellow-billed magpie
  171. Common raven
  172. Chihuahuan raven
  173. American crow
  174. Fish crow
  175. Horned lark
  176. Purple martin
  177. Northern rough-winged swallow
  178. Bank swallow
  179. Violet-green swallow
  180. Tree swallow
  181. Cliff swallow
  182. Cave swallow
  183. Barn swallow
  184. Bridled titmouse
  185. Oak titmouse
  186. Tufted titmouse
  187. Black-capped chickadee
  188. Carolina chickadee
  189. Mountain chickadee
  190. Verdin
  191. Bushtit
  192. Red-breasted nuthatch
  193. White-breasted nuthatch
  194. Pygmy nuthatch
  195. Brown creeper
  196. Carolina wren
  197. Bewick’s wren
  198. House wren
  199. Marsh wren
  200. Cactus wren
  201. Rock wren
  202. Canyon wren
  203. Blue-gray gnatcatcher
  204. Black-tailed gnatcatcher
  205. Mountain bluebird
  206. Eastern bluebird
  207. Western bluebird
  208. American robin
  209. Veery
  210. Hermit thrush
  211. Gray catbird
  212. Northern mockingbird
  213. Brown thrasher
  214. Curve-billed thrasher
  215. California thrasher
  216. Sage thrasher
  217. European starling
  218. Phainopepla
  219. Cedar waxwing
  220. Northern parula
  221. Blue-winged warbler
  222. Virginia’s warbler
  223. Lucy’s warbler
  224. Yellow warbler
  225. Chestnut-sided warbler
  226. Magnolia warbler
  227. Cerulean warbler
  228. Yellow-rumped warbler
  229. Black-throated gray warbler
  230. Kirtland’s warbler
  231. Pine warbler
  232. Blackpoll warbler
  233. Yellow-throated warbler
  234. Grace’s warbler
  235. Prothonotary warbler
  236. American redstart
  237. Painted redstart
  238. Ovenbird
  239. Northern waterthrush
  240. Mourning warbler
  241. MacGillivray’s warbler
  242. Common yellowthroat
  243. Red-faced warbler
  244. Canada warbler
  245. Yellow-breasted chat
  246. Olive warbler
  247. Hepatic tanager
  248. Summer tanager
  249. Western tanager
  250. Scarlet tanager
  251. Northern cardinal
  252. Pyrrhuloxia
  253. Black-headed grosbeak
  254. Rose-breasted grosbeak
  255. Blue grosbeak
  256. Indigo bunting
  257. Varied bunting
  258. Dickcissel
  259. Spotted towhee
  260. Eastern towhee
  261. Green-tailed towhee
  262. California towhee
  263. Canyon towhee
  264. Abert’s towhee
  265. Rufous-crowned sparrow
  266. Botteri’s sparrow
  267. Rufous-winged sparrow
  268. Black-throated sparrow
  269. Black-chinned sparrow
  270. Chipping sparrow
  271. Grasshopper sparrow
  272. Savannah sparrow
  273. Lark bunting
  274. White-throated sparrow
  275. White-crowned sparrow
  276. Fox sparrow
  277. Song sparrow
  278. Dark-eyed junco
  279. Yellow-eyed junco
  280. Western meadowlark
  281. Eastern meadowlark
  282. Bobolink
  283. Brown-headed cowbird
  284. Bronzed cowbird
  285. Yellow-headed blackbird
  286. Red-winged blackbird
  287. Brewer’s blackbird
  288. Common grackle
  289. Great-tailed grackle
  290. Bullock’s oriole
  291. Baltimore oriole
  292. Hooded oriole
  293. Orchard Oriole
  294. Scott’s oriole
  295. Purple finch
  296. Cassin’s finch
  297. House finch
  298. Pine siskin
  299. American goldfinch
  300. Lesser goldfinch
  301. House sparrow
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12 Replies to “USA checklist of birds”

  1. Congratulations on hitting 300. You’ve seen more species in the US than I have this year!

    One pedantic point – it should be Common Gallinule instead of Moorhen, as the North American one was split from the European one a couple of years ago.

    See you next time you’re in Arizona… or next time I’m back ‘home’ in the East Midlands, whichever happens first.

    1. Richard – we like pedantry on this blog. The list would have been much shorter without you. I can show you a moorhen at Stanwick Lakes any day of the week!

          1. Nope, nothing. Looks like it was a one hit wonder. You remain the only person to have seen one of the larger species of hummingbird in my garden. You could always put it down as Blue-throated Hummingbird/Plain-capped Starthroat. I bet it was a bloody starthroat as well, which is extremely galling for me! In my habitat, at this time of year, it would seem the most likely, even though there are only about 30 US records (all from SE Arizona in summer). One day…

  2. Yes and half of them are American splits any way!! I will stick to Jenny Wren and Robin Redbreast thank you. You can keep your Barn Swallow as ours have never been near a barn. Much prefer Bike shed Swallow as they use the bike to get back to Africa!

    1. Tim – that’s not pedantic at all, thank you. Put it down to jet lag. And, if i may, i may add some of your USA photographs to these blogs over the next week or so. It’s really time consuming to do on a laptop in a motel when one is eager to get some sleep.

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