North American Bird Life List

Following is my North American bird “life list.” I started with a copy of the American Birding Association Checklist, which lists the 976 birds that can be found in North America (as of December 2012). Birds that I have photographed and blogged about show up as green links in the list. Click the name of a bird to see pictures of that bird on my website.

I have photographed 272 of the 976 birds in North America.

Ducks, Geese, and Swans

Curassows and Guans

  • Plain Chachalaca

New World Quail

  • Mountain Quail
  • Scaled Quail
  • California Quail
  • Gambel's Quail
  • Montezuma Quail

Partridges, Grouse, Turkeys, and Old World Quail

  • Chukar
  • Himalayan Snowcock
  • Gray Partridge
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
  • Ruffed Grouse
  • Greater Sage-Grouse
  • Gunnison Sage-Grouse
  • Spruce Grouse
  • Willow Ptarmigan
  • Rock Ptarmigan
  • White-tailed Ptarmigan
  • Dusky Grouse
  • Sooty Grouse
  • Sharp-tailed Grouse
  • Greater Prairie-Chicken
  • Lesser Prairie-Chicken

Loons

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

Grebes

Flamingos

  • American Flamingo

Albatrosses

  • Yellow-nosed Albatross
  • Shy Albatross
  • Black-browed Albatross
  • Light-mantled Albatross
  • Wandering Albatross
  • Laysan Albatross
  • Black-footed Albatross
  • Short-tailed Albatross

Shearwaters and Petrels

  • Northern Fulmar
  • Great-winged Petrel
  • Providence Petrel
  • Herald Petrel
  • Murphy's Petrel
  • Mottled Petrel
  • Bermuda Petrel
  • Black-capped Petrel
  • Galapagos/Hawaiian Petrel
  • Fea's Petrel
  • Cook's Petrel
  • Stejneger's Petrel
  • Bulwer's Petrel
  • White-chinned Petrel
  • Parkinson's Petrel
  • Streaked Shearwater
  • Cory's Shearwater
  • Cape Verde Shearwater
  • Pink-footed Shearwater
  • Flesh-footed Shearwater
  • Wedge-tailed Shearwater
  • Buller's Shearwater
  • Sooty Shearwater
  • Short-tailed Shearwater
  • Manx Shearwater
  • Townsend's Shearwater
  • Black-vented Shearwater
  • Audubon's Shearwater
  • Little Shearwater

Storm-Petrels

  • Wilson's Storm-Petrel
  • White-faced Storm-Petrel
  • European Storm-Petrel
  • Black-bellied Storm-Petrel
  • Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel
  • Ringed Storm-Petrel
  • Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel
  • Leach's Storm-Petrel
  • Ashy Storm-Petrel
  • Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
  • Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel
  • Black Storm-Petrel
  • Tristram's Storm-Petrel
  • Least Storm-Petrel

Tropicbirds

  • White-tailed Tropicbird
  • Red-billed Tropicbird
  • Red-tailed Tropicbird

Storks

Frigatebirds

Boobies and Gannets

Cormorants

Darters

Pelicans

Bitterns, Herons, and Allies

Ibises and Spoonbills

New World Vultures

Ospreys

Hawks, Kites, Eagles, and Allies

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

Sungrebes

  • Sungrebe

Limpkins

Cranes

Thick-knees

  • Double-striped Thick-knee

Lapwings and Plovers

Oystercatchers

Stilts and Avocets

Jacanas

  • Northern Jacana

Sandpipers, Phalaropes, and Allies

Pratincoles

  • Oriental Pratincole

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

Skuas and Jaegers

  • Great Skua
  • South Polar Skua
  • Pomarine Jaeger
  • Parasitic Jaeger
  • Long-tailed Jaeger

Auks, Murres, and Puffins

  • Dovekie
  • Thick-billed Murre
  • Great Auk
  • Pigeon Guillemot
  • Long-billed Murrelet
  • Marbled Murrelet
  • Kittlitz's Murrelet
  • Scripps's Murrelet
  • Guadalupe Murrelet
  • Craveri's Murrelet
  • Ancient Murrelet
  • Cassin's Auklet
  • Parakeet Auklet
  • Least Auklet
  • Whiskered Auklet
  • Crested Auklet
  • Rhinoceros Auklet
  • Horned Puffin
  • Tufted Puffin

Pigeons and Doves

Cuckoos, Roadrunners, and Anis

Barn Owls

Typical Owls

  • Flammulated Owl
  • Oriental Scops-Owl
  • Western Screech-Owl
  • Eastern Screech-Owl
  • Whiskered Screech-Owl
  • Northern Hawk Owl
  • Northern Pygmy-Owl
  • Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
  • Elf Owl
  • Mottled Owl
  • Spotted Owl
  • Great Gray Owl
  • Long-eared Owl
  • Stygian Owl
  • Short-eared Owl
  • Boreal Owl
  • Northern Saw-whet Owl
  • Brown Hawk-Owl

Goatsuckers

  • Lesser Nighthawk
  • Antillean Nighthawk
  • Common Pauraque
  • Common Poorwill
  • Chuck-will's-widow
  • Buff-collared Nightjar
  • Eastern Whip-poor-will
  • Mexican Whip-poor-will
  • Gray Nightjar

Swifts

  • Black Swift
  • White-collared Swift
  • Vaux's Swift
  • White-throated Needletail
  • Common Swift
  • Fork-tailed Swift
  • White-throated Swift
  • Antillean Palm-Swift

Hummingbirds

  • Green Violetear
  • Green-breasted Mango
  • Magnificent Hummingbird
  • Plain-capped Starthroat
  • Blue-throated Hummingbird
  • Bahama Woodstar
  • Lucifer Hummingbird
  • Black-chinned Hummingbird
  • Anna's Hummingbird
  • Costa's Hummingbird
  • Bumblebee Hummingbird
  • Broad-tailed Hummingbird
  • Allen's Hummingbird
  • Calliope Hummingbird
  • Broad-billed Hummingbird
  • Berylline Hummingbird
  • Buff-bellied Hummingbird
  • Cinnamon Hummingbird
  • Violet-crowned Hummingbird
  • White-eared Hummingbird
  • Xantus's Hummingbird

Trogons

  • Elegant Trogon
  • Eared Quetzal

Hoopoes

  • Eurasian Hoopoe

Kingfishers

Woodpeckers and Allies

Caracaras and Falcons

Lories, Parakeets, Macaws, and Parrots

  • Budgerigar
  • Rosy-faced Lovebird
  • Carolina Parakeet
  • Green Parakeet
  • Thick-billed Parrot
  • White-winged Parakeet
  • Red-crowned Parrot

Tyrant Flycatchers

Becards, Tityras, and Allies

  • Masked Tityra
  • Gray-collared Becard
  • Rose-throated Becard

Shrikes

Vireos

Jays and Crows

  • Gray Jay
  • Brown Jay
  • Green Jay
  • Pinyon Jay
  • Steller's Jay
  • Island Scrub-Jay
  • Western Scrub-Jay
  • Mexican Jay
  • Clark's Nutcracker
  • Black-billed Magpie
  • Yellow-billed Magpie
  • Eurasian Jackdaw
  • Northwestern Crow
  • Tamaulipas Crow
  • Chihuahuan Raven
  • Common Raven

Larks

  • Sky Lark
  • Horned Lark

Swallows

Chickadees and Titmice

  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Mountain Chickadee
  • Mexican Chickadee
  • Chestnut-backed Chickadee
  • Boreal Chickadee
  • Gray-headed Chickadee
  • Bridled Titmouse
  • Oak Titmouse
  • Juniper Titmouse
  • Black-crested Titmouse

Verdin

  • Verdin

Bushtits

  • Bushtit

Nuthatches

Creepers

  • Brown Creeper

Wrens

Gnatcatchers and Gnatwrens

Dippers

  • American Dipper

Bulbuls

  • Red-whiskered Bulbul

Kinglets

Leaf Warblers

  • Willow Warbler
  • Wood Warbler
  • Dusky Warbler
  • Pallas's Leaf-Warbler
  • Yellow-browed Warbler
  • Arctic Warbler

Sylviid Warblers

  • Lesser Whitethroat
  • Wrentit

Reed Warblers

  • Sedge Warbler

Grassbirds

  • Middendorff's Grasshopper-Warbler
  • Lanceolated Warbler

Old World Flycatchers

  • Gray-streaked Flycatcher
  • Asian Brown Flycatcher
  • Spotted Flycatcher
  • Dark-sided Flycatcher
  • Rufous-tailed Robin
  • Siberian Rubythroat
  • Bluethroat
  • Siberian Blue Robin
  • Red-flanked Bluetail
  • Narcissus Flycatcher
  • Mugimaki Flycatcher
  • Taiga Flycatcher
  • Northern Wheatear
  • Stonechat

Thrushes

Mockingbirds and Thrashers

Starlings

Accentors

  • Siberian Accentor

Wagtails and Pipits

  • Eastern Yellow Wagtail
  • Citrine Wagtail
  • Gray Wagtail
  • White Wagtail
  • Tree Pipit
  • Olive-backed Pipit
  • Pechora Pipit
  • Red-throated Pipit
  • Sprague's Pipit

Waxwings

Silky-flycatchers

  • Gray Silky-flycatcher
  • Phainopepla

Olive Warblers

  • Olive Warbler

Longspurs and Snow Buntings

  • Lapland Longspur
  • Chestnut-collared Longspur
  • Smith's Longspur
  • McCown's Longspur
  • McKay's Bunting

Wood-Warblers

Bananaquits

  • Bananaquit

Tanagers

  • Western Spindalis

Emberizids

Cardinals, Piranga Tanagers and Allies

Blackbirds

Fringilline and Cardueline Finches and Allies

  • Common Chaffinch
  • Brambling
  • Asian Rosy-Finch
  • Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
  • Black Rosy-Finch
  • Brown-capped Rosy-Finch
  • Pine Grosbeak
  • Eurasian Bullfinch
  • Common Rosefinch
  • Cassin's Finch
  • Red Crossbill
  • White-winged Crossbill
  • Common Redpoll
  • Hoary Redpoll
  • Eurasian Siskin
  • Lesser Goldfinch
  • Lawrence's Goldfinch
  • Oriental Greenfinch
  • Evening Grosbeak
  • Hawfinch

Old World Sparrows