List of birds of the United States

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The California condor is one of North America's most endangered birds.
A five-year-old golden eagle

This list of birds of the United States is a comprehensive listing of all the bird species recorded in the United States as of November, 2010. It includes species from all 50 states.

The birds of the continental United States most closely resemble those of Eurasia, which was connected to the continent as part of the supercontinent Laurasia until around 60 million years ago. Many groups occur throughout the Northern Hemisphere and worldwide. However some groups unique to the New World have also arisen; those represented in this list are the hummingbirds, the New World vultures, the New World quail, the tyrant flycatchers, the vireos, the mimids, the New World warblers, the tanagers, the cardinals and the icterids.

Several common birds in the United States, such as the house sparrow, the rock dove, the European starling and the mute swan are introduced species, meaning that they are not native to this continent but were brought here by humans. Introduced species are marked on this list as (I). There may be species that have individual escapees or small feral populations in North America that are not on this list. This is especially true of birds that are commonly held as pets, such as parrots and finches.

The status of one bird on this list, the ivory-billed woodpecker is controversial. Until 2005 this bird was widely considered to be extinct. In April of that year it was reported that at least one adult male bird had been sighted in the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas. This report however, has not been universally accepted and the American Birding Association still lists the ivory-billed woodpecker as extinct.

This list is based on a checklist used by the AOU, the list used by most field guides for North American birds. It does not include species from any territories or possessions.


Contents:

Non-passerines: Ducks, geese and swans • Curassows and guans • Guineafowl • Partridges, grouse, turkeys and Old World quail • New World quail • Loons • Grebes • Flamingos • Albatrosses • Shearwaters and petrels • Storm petrels • Tropicbirds • Storks • Frigatebirds • Boobies and gannets • Cormorants • Darters • Pelicans • Bitterns, herons and egrets • Ibises and spoonbills • New World vultures • Osprey • Eagles, kites and allies • Caracaras and falcons • Rails, gallinules and coots • Sungrebes • Limpkins • Cranes • Thick-knees • Lapwings and plovers • Oystercatchers • Stilts and avocets • Jacanas • Sandpipers and allies • Pratincoles • Gulls, terns and skimmers • Skuas • Auks, murres and puffins • Sandgrouse • Pigeons and doves • Old World parrots • African and New World parrots • Cuckoos, roadrunners and anis • Tytonidae • True owls • Nightjars • Swifts • Hummingbirds • Trogons • Hoopoes • Kingfishers • Woodpeckers, sapsuckers and flickers

Passerines: Tyrant flycatchers • Tityras and allies • Shrikes • Vireos • Jays, crows, magpies and ravens • Larks • Swallows and martins • Chickadees and titmice • Verdin • Bushtits • Nuthatches • Treecreepers • Wrens • Gnatcatchers • Dippers • Bulbuls • Honeyeaters • Monarch flycatchers • Kinglets • Bush warblers • Leaf warblers • Old World warblers • White-eyes • Babblers • Reed warblers • Grassbirds and allies • Old World flycatchers • Thrushes • Mockingbirds and thrashers • Starlings and mynas • Accentors • Wagtails and pipits • Waxwings • Silky flycatchers • Olive warbler • Longspurs • New World warbler • Bananaquit • Tanagers • American sparrows, towhees and juncos • Cardinals, grosbeaks and allies • Blackbirds, meadowlarks, cowbirds, grackles and New World oriole • Finches • Estrildid finches • Old World sparrows

See also        References        External links

Taxonomy

The taxonomic treatment (designation and sequence of orders, families and species) and nomenclature (common and scientific names) used in the accompanying bird lists adhere to the conventions of the AOU's (1998) Check-list of North American Birds, the recognized scientific authority on the taxonomy and nomenclature of North America birds. The AOU's Committee on Classification and Nomenclature, the body responsible for maintaining and updating the Check-list, "strongly and unanimously continues to endorse the biological species concept (BSC), in which species are considered to be genetically cohesive groups of populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups" (AOU 1998). See Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy for an alternative phylogenetic arrangement based on DNA-DNA hybridization.

Unless otherwise noted, all species listed below are considered to occur regularly in the United States as permanent residents, summer or winter residents or visitors, or migrants. The following codes are used to designate some species:

  • (A) Accidental - occurrence based on one or two (rarely more) records and unlikely to occur regularly
  • (C) Casual - occurrence based on two or a few records, with subsequent records not improbable
  • (E) Extinct - a recent species that no longer exists
  • (Ex) Extirpated - a species which no longer occurs in the United States, but other populations still exist elsewhere
  • (I) Introduced - a species established solely as result of direct or indirect human intervention; synonymous with non-native and non-indigenous

This list follows the ABA (American Birding Association) for determination of rarity. The markings (A) and (C) correspond to the ABA birding codes 5 and 4 respectively.

Ducks, geese and swans

Order: Anseriformes   Family: Anatidae

Anatidae includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl, such as geese and swans. These birds are adapted to an aquatic existence with webbed feet, bills which are flattened to a greater or lesser extent, and feathers that are excellent at shedding water due to special oils.

File:NPS Wildlife. Trumpeter Swan on Nest.jpg
Trumpeter swan
File:Woodduck95.jpg
Wood duck pair
Falcated duck
File:Bristol.zoo.common.eider.arp.jpg
Common eider

Curassows and guans

Order: Galliformes   Family: Cracidae

The chachalacas, guans and curassows are birds in the family Cracidae. These are large birds, similar in general appearance to turkeys. The guans and curassows live in trees, but the smaller chachalacas are found in more open scrubby habitats. They are generally dull-plumaged, but the curassows and some guans have colorful facial ornaments.

Guineafowl

Order: Galliformes   Family: Numididae

Partridges, grouse, turkeys and Old World quail

Order: Galliformes   Family: Phasianidae

Phasianidae consists of the pheasants and their allies. These are terrestrial species, variable in size but generally plump with broad relatively short wings. Many species are gamebirds or have been domesticated as a food source for humans.

Wild turkey

New World quail

California quail

Order: Galliformes   Family: Odontophoridae

The New World quails are small, plump terrestrial birds only distantly related to the quails of the Old World, but named for their similar appearance and habits.

Loons

Pacific loon

Order: Gaviiformes   Family: Gaviidae

Loons are aquatic birds, the size of a large duck, to which they are unrelated. Their plumage is largely gray or black, and they have spear-shaped bills. Loons swim well and fly adequately, but are almost hopeless on land, because their legs are placed towards the rear of the body.

Grebes

Clark's grebe

Order: Podicipediformes   Family: Podicipedidae

Grebes are small to medium-large freshwater diving birds. They have lobed toes and are excellent swimmers and divers. However, they have their feet placed far back on the body, making them quite ungainly on land.

Flamingos

Order: Phoenicopteriformes   Family: Phoenicopteridae

Caribbean flamingo

Flamingos (genus Phoenicopterus monotypic in family Phoenicopteridae) are gregarious wading birds, usually 3 to 5 feet (0.9 to 1.5 m) tall, found in both the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. Flamingos filter-feed on shellfish and algae. Their oddly shaped beaks are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they consume and, uniquely, are used upside-down.

Albatrosses

Order: Procellariiformes   Family: Diomedeidae

The albatrosses are amongst the largest of flying birds, and the great albatrosses from the genus Diomedea have the largest wingspans of any extant birds.

File:Black footed albatross1.jpg
Black-footed albatross

Shearwaters and petrels

Order: Procellariiformes   Family: Procellariidae

The procellariids are the main group of medium-sized "true petrels", characterized by united nostrils with medium septum and a long outer functional primary.

File:Northern Fulmar.jpg
Northern fulmar
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Cook's petrel
Great shearwater

Storm petrels

Order: Procellariiformes   Family: Hydrobatidae

The storm petrels are the smallest seabirds, relatives of the petrels, feeding on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering. The flight is fluttering and sometimes bat-like.

Wilson's storm petrel

Tropicbirds

Order: Phaethontiformes   Family: Phaethontidae

Red-tailed tropicbird

Tropicbirds are slender white birds of tropical oceans, with exceptionally long central tail feathers. Their long wings have black markings, as does the head.

Storks

File:Woodstork17.jpg
Wood stork

Order: Ciconiiformes   Family: Ciconiidae

Storks are large, heavy, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long stout bills and wide wingspans. They lack the powder down that other wading birds such as herons, spoonbills and ibises use to clean off fish slime. Storks lack a pharynx and are mute.

Frigatebirds

Order: Suliformes   Family: Fregatidae

File:Femalefbird.jpg
Magnificent frigatebird

Frigatebirds are large seabirds usually found over tropical oceans. They are large, black or black-and-white, with long wings and deeply forked tails. The males have colored inflatable throat pouches. They do not swim or walk and cannot take off from a flat surface. Having the largest wingspan-to-body-weight ratio of any bird, they are essentially aerial, able to stay aloft for more than a week.

Boobies and gannets

Order: Suliformes   Family: Sulidae

The sulids comprise the gannets and boobies. Both groups are medium-large coastal seabirds that plunge-dive for fish.

Blue-footed booby

Cormorants

Double-crested cormorant

Order: Suliformes   Family: Phalacrocoracidae

Cormorants are medium-to-large aquatic birds, usually with mainly dark plumage and areas of colored skin on the face. The bill is long, thin and sharply hooked. Their feet are four-toed and webbed, a distinguishing feature among the Pelecaniformes order.

Darters

Anhinga

Order: Suliformes   Family: Anhingidae

Darters are cormorant-like water birds with very long necks and long, straight beaks. They are fish eaters which often swim with only their neck above the water.

Pelicans

File:Brown Pelican.jpg
Brown pelican

Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Pelecanidae

Pelicans are very large water birds with a distinctive pouch under their beak. Like other birds in the order Pelecaniformes, they have four webbed toes.

Bitterns, herons and egrets

Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Ardeidae

Snowy egret

The family Ardeidae contains the herons, egrets and bitterns. Herons and egrets are medium to large wading birds with long necks and legs. Bitterns tend to be shorter necked and more secretive. Members of Ardeidae fly with their necks retracted, unlike other long-necked birds such as storks, ibises and spoonbills.

Ibises and spoonbills

Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Threskiornithidae

Glossy ibis

The family Threskiornithidae includes the ibises and spoonbills. They have long, broad wings. Their bodies tend to be elongated, the neck more so, with rather long legs. The bill is also long, decurved in the case of the ibises, straight and distinctively flattened in the spoonbills.

New World vultures

Order: Cathartiformes   Family: Cathartidae

File:Flying Turkey Vulture with Wings Held Upward.jpg
Turkey vulture

The New World vultures are not closely related to Old World vultures, but superficially resemble them because of convergent evolution. Like the Old World vultures, they are scavengers. However, unlike Old World vultures, which find carcasses by sight, New World vultures have a good sense of smell with which they locate carcasses.

Osprey

Order: Accipitriformes   Family: Pandionidae

Pandionidae is a family of fish-eating birds of prey, possessing a very large, powerful hooked beak for tearing flesh from their prey, strong legs, powerful talons and keen eyesight. The family is monotypic.

Eagles, kites and allies

Order: Accipitriformes   Family: Accipitridae

Accipitridae is a family of birds of prey, which includes hawks, eagles, kites, harriers and Old World vultures. These birds have very large powerful hooked beaks for tearing flesh from their prey, strong legs, powerful talons and keen eyesight.

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Northern goshawk
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Red-shouldered hawk

Caracaras and falcons

File:Americankestrel65.jpg
American kestrel

Order: Falconiformes   Family: Falconidae

Falconidae is a family of diurnal birds of prey, notably the falcons and caracaras. They differ from hawks, eagles and kites in that they kill with their beaks instead of their talons.

Rails, gallinules and coots

Order: Gruiformes   Family: Rallidae

File:KingRail23.jpg
King rail

Rallidae is a large family of small to medium-sized birds which includes the rails, crakes, coots and gallinules. The most typical family members occupy dense vegetation in damp environments near lakes, swamps or rivers. In general they are shy and secretive birds, making them difficult to observe. Most species have strong legs and long toes which are well adapted to soft uneven surfaces. They tend to have short, rounded wings and to be weak fliers.

Sungrebe

Order: Gruiformes   Family: Heliornithidae

Limpkins

Limpkin

Order: Gruiformes   Family: Aramidae

The limpkin is an odd bird that looks like a large rail, but is skeletally closer to the cranes. It is found in marshes with some trees or scrub in the Caribbean, South America and southern Florida.

Cranes

Order: Gruiformes   Family: Gruidae

File:Sandhill Crane with baby.jpg
Sandhill crane

Cranes are large, long-legged and long-necked birds. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back. Most have elaborate and noisy courting displays or "dances".

Thick-knees

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Burhinidae

The thick-knees are a group of largely tropical waders in the family Burhinidae. They are found worldwide within the tropical zone, with some species also breeding in temperate Europe and Australia. They are medium to large waders with strong black or yellow-black bills, large yellow eyes and cryptic plumage. Despite being classed as waders, most species have a preference for arid or semi-arid habitats.

Lapwings and plovers

The family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels and lapwings. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short, thick necks and long, usually pointed, wings. They are found in open country worldwide, mostly in habitats near water.

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Charadriidae

File:Killdeer59.jpg
Killdeer

Oystercatchers

American oystercatcher

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Haematopodidae

The oystercatchers are large, obvious and noisy plover-like birds, with strong bills used for smashing or prising open molluscs.

Stilts and avocets

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Recurvirostridae

File:AmericanAvocet23.jpg
American avocet

Recurvirostridae is a family of large wading birds, which includes the avocets and stilts. The avocets have long legs and long up-curved bills. The stilts have extremely long legs and long, thin, straight bills.

Jacanas

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Jacanidae

The jacanas are a group of tropical waders in the family Jacanidae. They are found worldwide within the tropical zone. They are identifiable by their huge feet and claws which enable them to walk on floating vegetation in the shallow lakes that are their preferred habitat.

Sandpipers and allies

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae is a large diverse family of small to medium-sized shorebirds including the sandpipers, curlews, godwits, shanks, tattlers, woodcocks, snipes, dowitchers and phalaropes. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. Different lengths of legs and bills enable multiple species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food.

Ruddy turnstone

Pratincoles

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Glareolidae

The Pratincoles have short legs, very long pointed wings and long forked tails. Their most unusual feature for birds classed as waders is that they typically hunt their insect prey on the wing like swallows, although they can also feed on the ground. Their short bills are an adaptation to aerial feeding. Their flight is fast and graceful like a swallow or a tern, with many twists and turns to pursue their prey.

Gulls, terns and skimmers

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Laridae

Laridae is a family of medium to large seabirds and includes gulls, terns, kittiwakes and skimmers. They are typically gray or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have stout, longish bills and webbed feet.

File:Tern-KayEss-2.jpeg
Common tern
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Black skimmer

Skuas

Long-tailed jaeger

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Stercorariidae

Skuas are in general medium to large birds, typically with gray or brown plumage, often with white markings on the wings. They have longish bills with hooked tips and webbed feet with sharp claws. They look like large dark gulls, but have a fleshy cere above the upper mandible. They are strong, acrobatic fliers.

Auks, murres and puffins

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Alcidae

Alcids are superficially similar to penguins due to their black-and-white colors, their upright posture and some of their habits, however they are only distantly related to the penguins and are able to fly. Auks live on the open sea, only deliberately coming ashore to nest.

Sandgrouse

Order: Pteroclidiformes   Family: Pteroclididae

Sandgrouse have small, pigeon like heads and necks, but sturdy compact bodies. They have long pointed wings and sometimes tails and a fast direct flight. Their legs are feathered down to the toes.

Pigeons and doves

Order: Columbiformes   Family: Columbidae

Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills with a fleshy cere. They feed on seeds, fruit and plants. Unlike most other birds, the doves and pigeons produce "crop milk," which is secreted by a sloughing of fluid-filled cells from the lining of the crop. Both sexes produce this highly nutritious substance to feed to the young.

Mourning dove

Old World parrots

Order: Psittaciformes   Family: Psittaculidae

African and New World parrots

Order: Psittaciformes   Family: Psittacidae

File:Red Crowned Amazon.jpg
Red-crowned parrot

Cuckoos, roadrunners and anis

Order: Cuculiformes   Family: Cuculidae

Black-billed cuckoo

The family Cuculidae includes cuckoos, roadrunners and anis. These birds are of variable size with slender bodies, long tails and strong legs.

Tytonidae

Barn owl

Order: Strigiformes   Family: Tytonidae

Owls in the family Tytonidae are medium to large owls, with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. There are about 17 species in Tytonidae, including barn owls, bay owls and masked owls. The only one in the United States is the Tyto alba.

True owls

Order: Strigiformes   Family: Strigidae

True owls are small to large solitary nocturnal birds of prey. They have large forward-facing eyes and ears, a hawk-like beak and a conspicuous circle of feathers around each eye called a facial disk.

Barred owl

Nightjars

Order: Caprimulgiformes   Family: Caprimulgidae

Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal birds that usually nest on the ground. They have long wings, short legs and very short bills. Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Their soft plumage is cryptically colored to resemble bark or leaves.

Common nighthawk

Swifts

Order: Apodiformes   Family: Apodidae

The swifts are small birds which spend the majority of their lives flying. These birds have very short legs and never settle voluntarily on the ground, perching instead only on vertical surfaces. Many swifts have long swept-back wings which resemble a crescent or boomerang.

File:ChimneySwift23.jpg
Chimney swift

Hummingbirds

Order: Apodiformes   Family: Trochilidae

Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. They are the only birds that can fly backwards.

Ruby-throated hummingbird

Trogons

File:Elegant Trogon.jpg
Elegant trogon

Order: Trogoniformes   Family: Trogonidae

Trogons are residents of tropical forests worldwide, with the greatest diversity in Central and South America. They feed on insects and fruit, and their broad bills and weak legs reflect their diet and arboreal habits. Although their flight is fast, they are reluctant to fly any distance. Trogons do not migrate. Trogons have soft, often colorful, feathers with distinctive male and female plumage. They nest in holes in trees or termite nests, laying white or pastel-colored eggs.

Hoopoes

Order: Upupiformes   Family: Upupidae

Hoopoes spend much time on the ground hunting insects and worms. This black, white and pink bird is quite unmistakable, especially in its erratic flight, which is like that of a giant butterfly. The crest is erectile, but is mostly kept closed. It walks on the ground like a starling. The song is a trisyllabic oop-oop-oop, which gives rise to its English and scientific names.

Kingfishers

File:Ceryle torquatus.jpg
Ringed kingfisher

Order: Coraciiformes   Family: Alcedinidae

Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads, long, pointed bills, short legs and stubby tails.

Woodpeckers, sapsuckers and flickers

Order: Piciformes   Family: Picidae

Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like beaks, short legs, stiff tails and long tongues used for capturing insects. Some species have feet with two toes pointing forward and two backward, while several species have only three toes. Many woodpeckers have the habit of tapping noisily on tree trunks with their beaks.

Red-naped sapsucker
Northern flicker

Tyrant flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Tyrannidae

Tyrant flycatchers are Passerine birds which occur throughout North and South America. They superficially resemble the Old World flycatchers, but are more robust and have stronger bills. They do not have the sophisticated vocal capabilities of the songbirds. Most, but not all, are rather plain. As the name implies, most are insectivorous.

File:Empidonax traillii.jpg
Willow flycatcher
Vermilion flycatcher
Eastern kingbird

Tityras and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Tityridae

Tityridae is family of suboscine passerine birds found in forest and woodland in the Neotropics. The approximately 30 species in this family were formerly spread over the families Tyrannidae, Pipridae and Cotingidae (see Taxonomy). As yet, no widely accepted common name exists for the family, although Tityras and allies and Tityras, mourners and allies have been used. They are small to medium-sized birds.

Shrikes

Northern shrike

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Laniidae

Shrikes are passerine birds known for their habit of catching other birds and small animals and impaling the uneaten portions of their bodies on thorns. A typical shrike's beak is hooked, like a bird of prey.

Vireos

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Vireonidae

The vireos are a group of small to medium-sized passerine birds restricted to the New World. They are typically greenish in color and resemble wood warblers apart from their heavier bills.

Yellow-throated vireo

Jays, crows, magpies and ravens

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Corvidae

Clark's nutcracker
American crow

The family Corvidae includes crows, ravens, jays, choughs, magpies, treepies, nutcrackers and ground jays. Corvids are above average in size among the Passeriformes, and some of the larger species show high levels of intelligence.

Larks

Horned lark

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Alaudidae

Larks are small terrestrial birds with often extravagant songs and display flights. Most larks are fairly dull in appearance. Their food is insects and seeds.

  • Sky lark, Alauda arvensis (regular migrant-AK) (A-CA) (Ex-NY) (I-BC & WA)
  • Horned lark, Eremophila alpestris

Swallows and martins

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Hirundinidae

The family Hirundinidae is adapted to aerial feeding. They have a slender streamlined body, long pointed wings and a short bill with a wide gape. The feet are adapted to perching rather than walking, and the front toes are partially joined at the base.

File:Tachycineta bicolor1.jpg
Tree swallow

Chickadees and titmice

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Paridae

The Paridae are mainly small stocky woodland species with short stout bills. Some have crests. They are adaptable birds, with a mixed diet including seeds and insects.

File:Tufted titmouse perching 2006-11-23.jpg
Tufted titmouse

Verdin

Verdin

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Remizidae

The verdin one of the smallest passerines in North America. It is gray overall and adults have a bright yellow head and rufous "shoulder patch" (the lesser coverts). Verdins are insectivorous, continuously foraging among the desert trees and scrubs. They are usually solitary except when they pair up to construct their conspicuous nests.

Bushtits

File:Psaltriparus minimus 04528.JPG
Bushtit

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Aegithalidae

The bushtits are a family of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. They make woven bag nests in trees. Most eat a mixed diet which includes insects.

Nuthatches

White-breasted nuthatch

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Sittidae

Nuthatches are small woodland birds. They have the unusual ability to climb down trees head first, unlike other birds which can only go upwards. Nuthatches have big heads, short tails and powerful bills and feet.

Treecreepers

Brown creeper

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Certhiidae

Treecreepers are small woodland birds, brown above and white below. They have thin pointed down-curved bills, which they use to extricate insects from bark. They have stiff tail feathers, like woodpeckers, which they use to support themselves on vertical trees.

Wrens

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Troglodytidae

Wrens are small and inconspicuous birds, except for their loud songs. They have short wings and thin down-turned bills. Several species often hold their tails upright. All are insectivorous.

Carolina wren

Gnatcatchers

File:Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher.jpg
Blue-gray gnatcatcher

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Polioptilidae

These dainty birds resemble Old World warblers in their structure and habits, moving restlessly through the foliage seeking insects. The gnatcatchers are mainly soft bluish gray in color and have the typical insectivore's long sharp bill. Many species have distinctive black head patterns (especially males) and long, regularly cocked, black-and-white tails.

Dippers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Cinclidae

American dipper

Dippers are a group of perching birds whose habitat includes aquatic environments in the Americas, Europe and Asia. They are named for their bobbing or dipping movements. These birds have adaptations which allows them to submerge and walk on the bottom to feed on insect larvae.

Bulbuls

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Pycnonotidae

The bulbuls are a family of medium-sized passerine songbirds native to Africa and tropical Asia. These are noisy and gregarious birds with often beautiful striking songs.

Honeyeaters

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Meliphagidae

File:Kauaioo.jpg
The extinct Kaua‘i ‘ō‘ō

Honeyeaters prefer to flit quickly from perch to perch in the outer foliage, stretching up or sideways or hanging upside down at need. They have a highly developed brush-tipped tongue, which is frayed and fringed with bristles which soak up liquids readily. The tongue is flicked rapidly and repeatedly into a flower, the upper mandible then compressing any liquid out when the bill is closed. All species of honeyeaters below were endemic to Hawaii, but are now extinct. The Kaua‘i ‘ō‘ō was the last species to survive, last seen in 1987.

Monarch flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Monarchidae

Hawaiʻi ‘elepaio

The Monarchinae are a relatively recent grouping of a number of seemingly very different birds, mostly from the Southern Hemisphere, which are more closely related than they at first appear. Many of the approximately 140 species making up the family were previously assigned to other groups, largely on the basis of general morphology or behavior. With the new insights generated by the DNA-DNA hybridisation studies of Sibley and his co-workers toward the end of the 20th century, however, it became clear that these apparently unrelated birds were all descended from a common ancestor. The Monarchinae are small to medium-sized insectivorous passerines, many of which hunt by flycatching. 3 species endemic to Hawaii represents the group.

Kinglets

File:GoldenCrownedKinglet23.jpg
Golden-crowned kinglet

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Regulidae

The kinglets are a small family of birds which resemble the titmice. They are very small insectivorous birds in the genus Regulus. The adults have colored crowns, giving rise to their name.

Bush warblers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Cettiidae

Leaf warblers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Phylloscopidae

Old World warblers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Sylviidae

The family Sylviidae is a group of small insectivorous passerine birds. They mainly occur as breeding species, as the common name implies, in Europe, Asia and, to a lesser extent, Africa. Most are of generally undistinguished appearance, but many have distinctive songs.

White-eyes

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Zosteropidae

The white-eyes are small passerine birds native to tropical and sub-tropical Africa, southern Asia and Australasia. The birds of this group are mostly of undistinguished appearance, their plumage above being generally some dull color like greenish-olive, but some species have a white or bright yellow throat, breast or lower parts, and several have buff flanks. But as indicated by their scientific name, derived from the Ancient Greek for girdle-eye, there is a conspicuous ring around the eyes of many species. They have rounded wings and strong legs. The size ranges up to 15 cm (6 inches) in length. All the species of white-eyes are sociable, forming large flocks which only separate on the approach of the breeding season. Though mainly insectivorous, they eat nectar and fruits of various kinds.

Babblers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Timaliidae

The Old World babblers or timaliids are a large family of mostly Old World passerine birds. They are rather diverse in size and coloration, but are characterized by soft fluffy plumage. These birds have strong legs and many are quite terrestrial. This group is not strongly |migratory and most species have short rounded wings and a weak flight.

Reed warblers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Acrocephalidae

Grassbirds and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Megaluridae

Old World flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Muscicapidae

The Old World flycatcher is a large family of small passerine birds. These are mainly small arboreal insectivores, many of which, as the name implies, take their prey on the wing.

Thrushes

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Turdidae

File:WesternBluebird23.jpg
Western bluebird

The thrushes are a group of passerine birds that occur mainly but not exclusively in the Old World. They are plump, soft plumaged, small to medium-sized insectivores or sometimes omnivores, often feeding on the ground. Many have attractive songs.

File:Myadestes palmeri.jpg
Puaiohi
American robin

Mockingbirds and thrashers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Mimidae

The mimids are a family of passerine birds which includes thrashers, mockingbirds, tremblers and the New World catbirds. These birds are notable for their vocalization, especially their remarkable ability to mimic a wide variety of birds and other sounds heard outdoors. The species tend towards dull grays and browns in their appearance.

Northern mockingbird

Starlings and mynas

An immature female European starling

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Sturnidae

Starlings and mynas are small to medium-sized Old World passerine birds with strong feet. Their flight is strong and direct and most are very gregarious. Their preferred habitat is fairly open country, and they eat insects and fruit. The plumage of several species is dark with a metallic sheen.

Accentors

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Prunellidae

Accentors are small, fairly drab species superficially similar, but unrelated to, sparrows. However, accentors have thin sharp bills, reflecting their diet of insects in summer, augmented with seeds and berries in winter.

Wagtails and pipits

File:American pipit.jpg
American pipit

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Motacillidae

Motacillidae is a family of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. They include the wagtails, longclaws and pipits. They are slender, ground feeding insectivores of open country.

Waxwings

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Bombycillidae

File:Cedar Waxwing-27527-2.jpg
Cedar waxwing

The waxwings are a group of passerine birds with soft silky plumage and unique red tips to some of the wing feathers. In the Bohemian and cedar waxwings, these tips look like sealing wax and give the group its name. These are arboreal birds of northern forests. They live on insects in summer and berries in winter.

Silky flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Ptiliogonatidae

The silky flycatchers are a small family of passerine birds which occur mainly in Central America. They are related to waxwings and most species have small crests.

File:PhainopeplaMadera.jpg
Phainopepla

Olive warbler

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Peucedramidae

The olive warbler has a gray body with some olive-green on the wings and two white wing bars. The male's head and breast are orange and there is a black patch through the eye. It is the only member in its family. This is the only species in its family.

Longspurs

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Calcariidae

The Calcariidae are a group of passerine birds that have been traditionally grouped with the Emberizeridae (New World sparrows), but differ in a number of respects and are usually found in open grassy areas.

New World warbler

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Parulidae

File:NashvilleWarbler23.jpg
Nashville warbler

The New world warblers are a group of small often colorful passerine birds restricted to the New World. Most are arboreal, but some are more terrestrial. Most members of this family are insectivores. In August 2011, the North American Committee of the AOU changed their classification of many of the species. Since this list is based on the AOU classification, changes to scientific names are updated here. Since many other taxonomic committees have yet to rule on these changes or have ruled in other ways, species pages remain with their original scientific names until more of a consensus is achieved.

Yellow warbler
Cerulean warbler
Hooded warbler

Bananaquit

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Coerebidae or Genus Coereba Incertae sedis

The bananaquit is a small passerine bird. It has a slender, curved bill, adapted to taking nectar from flowers. It is the only member of the genus Coereba (Vieillot, 1809) and is normally placed within the family Coerebidae, although there is uncertainty whether that placement is correct (hence the assignment Genus: Coereba Incertae sedis).

Tanagers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Thraupidae

The tanagers are a large group of small to medium-sized passerine birds restricted to the New World, mainly in the tropics. Many species are brightly colored. They are seed eaters, but their preference tends towards fruit and nectar.

American sparrows, towhees and juncos

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Emberizidae

Emberizidae is a large family of passerine birds. They are seed-eating birds with distinctively shaped bills. In Europe, most species are called buntings. In North America, most of the species in this family are known as sparrows, but these birds are not closely related to the Old World sparrows which are in the family Passeridae. Many emberizid species have distinctive head patterns.

White-crowned sparrow
File:Slate-colored Junco.jpg
Dark-eyed junco

Cardinals, grosbeaks and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Cardinalidae

Northern cardinal

The cardinals are a family of robust, seed-eating birds with strong bills. They are typically associated with open woodland. The sexes usually have distinct plumages.

File:IndigoBuntingonPlant.jpg
Indigo bunting

Blackbirds, meadowlarks, cowbirds, grackles and New World oriole

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Icteridae

File:Agelaius phoeniceus 0123.JPG
Red-winged blackbird

The icterids are a group of small to medium-sized, often colorful passerine birds restricted to the New World and include the grackles, New World blackbirds and New World orioles. Most species have black as a predominant plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange or red.

Baltimore oriole

Finches

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Fringillidae

File:GreyCrownRosyfinch23.jpg
Gray-crowned rosy finch

Finches are seed-eating passerine birds, that are small to moderately large and have a strong beak, usually conical and in some species very large. All have twelve tail feathers and nine primaries. These birds have a bouncing flight with alternating bouts of flapping and gliding on closed wings, and most sing well.

ʻIʻiwi
American goldfinch

Estrildid finches

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Estrildidae

The estrildid finches are small passerine birds native to the Old World tropics. They are gregarious and often colonial seed eaters with short thick but pointed bills. They are all similar in structure and habits, but have wide variation in plumage colors and patterns.

Old World sparrows

File:House Sparrow (M) I IMG 7881.jpg
House sparrow

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Passeridae

Old World sparrows are small passerine birds. In general, sparrows tend to be small plump brownish or grayish birds with short tails and short powerful beaks. Sparrows are seed eaters, but they also consume small insects.

List of birds of Hawaii

Listed here separately are all bird species known to occur in the Hawaiian Islands. Some species may be duplicative of those listed above.

See also

References

External links

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