Cover
Table of Contents
Introduction
Getting Started
Birding 101
Four Keys to Bird Identification
Using Field Marks to Identify Birds
Use Merlin to See the Possibilities
Tips for Beginning Bird Watchers
Listening to Birds
Photographing Birds
Digiscoping
Attracting Birds to Your Yard
Birdscaping
Bird Feeders
Feeder Placement & Safety
Bird Food
Water Sources
Features of a Good Birdhouse
Getting Involved
Citizen Science
eBird
Great Backyard Bird Count
Bird Academy
Project FeederWatch
NestWatch
Celebrate Urban Birds
Seven Simple Actions to Help Birds
Guide to Species
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck / GEESE • DUCKS
Snow Goose
Canada Goose
Muscovy Duck
Wood Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Mexican Duck
Mottled Duck
Northern Pintail
Canvasback
Redhead
Lesser Scaup
Ruddy Duck
Northern Bobwhite / QUAIL • TURKEY
Scaled Quail
Wild Turkey
Pied-billed Grebe / GREBES
Eared Grebe
Rock Pigeon / PIGEONS • DOVES • CUCKOOS
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Inca Dove
Common Ground Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Lesser Nighthawk / NIGHTJARS
Common Nighthawk
Chimney Swift / SWIFTS • HUMMINGBIRDS
White-throated Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Calliope Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Bu -bellied Hummingbird
Sora / RAILS • GALLINULES • COOTS
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Purple Gallinule
Sandhill Crane / CRANES • STILTS • OYSTERCATCHERS
Black-necked Stilt
American Oystercatcher
Black-bellied Plover / PLOVERS • SANDPIPERS
American Golden-Plover
Killdeer
Upland Sandpiper
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Western Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Willet
Laughing Gull / GULLS • TERNS
Franklin’s Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Least Tern
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Common Tern
Forster’s Tern
Royal Tern
Black Skimmer / SKIMMERS
Common Loon / LOONS
Wood Stork / STORKS
Anhinga / ANHINGAS
Neotropic Cormorant / CORMORANTS • PELICANS
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron / HERONS • IBISES • SPOONBILLS
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Vulture / VULTURES
Turkey Vulture
Osprey / KITES • HAWKS • EAGLES
White-tailed Kite
Mississippi Kite
Northern Harrier
Cooper’s Hawk
Bald Eagle
Harris’s Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Eastern Screech-Owl / OWLS
Great Horned Owl
Burrowing Owl
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher / KINGFISHERS
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker / WOODPECKERS
Red-headed Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Crested Caracara / FALCONS
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Monk Parakeet / PARROTS
Western Wood-Pewee / TYRANT FLYCATCHERS
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Black Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe
Say’s Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Western Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Yellow-throated Vireo / VIREOS
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Loggerhead Shrike / SHRIKES
Green Jay / JAYS • CROWS
Blue Jay
Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Common Raven
Carolina Chickadee / CHICKADEES • TITMICE
Tufted Titmouse
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin / VERDINS
Horned Lark / LARKS
Purple Martin / SWALLOWS
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Cave Swallow
Bushtit / BUSHTITS
Golden-crowned Kinglet / KINGLETS
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Red-breasted Nuthatch / NUTHATCHES
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Brown Creeper / CREEPERS
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher / GNATCATCHERS
Rock Wren / WRENS
Canyon Wren
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Bewick’s Wren
Cactus Wren
European Starling / STARLINGS
Gray Catbird / CATBIRDS
Curve-billed Thrasher / THRASHERS • MOCKINGBIRDS
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
Eastern Bluebird / THRUSHES
Mountain Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing / WAXWINGS
Phainopepla / SILKY-FLYCATCHERS
House Sparrow / OLD WORLD SPARROWS
House Finch / FINCHES • LONGSPURS
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
Lapland Longspur
Grasshopper Sparrow / SPARROWS • JUNCOS • TOWHEES
Black-throated Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Lark Bunting
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Brewer’s Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
Harris’s Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Canyon Towhee
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Green-tailed Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Eastern Towhee
Yellow-breasted Chat / BLACKBIRDS • ORIOLES • GRACKLES
Western Meadowlark
Eastern Meadowlark
Orchard Oriole
Hooded Oriole
Bullock’s Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Brewer’s Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Great-tailed Grackle
Black-and-white Warbler / WOOD-WARBLERS
Prothonotary Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
Summer Tanager / CARDINALS • GROSBEAKS • BUNTINGS
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Black-headed Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting
Dickcissel
Photo Credits
Index
Acknowledgments