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32 most asked-about birds

See 44 photos of the 32 bird species that visitors to our website ask us to to identify most frequently.
Published: September 1, 2005
For more help learning to identify birds, visit our Basics of Bird ID page.

If you need additional help identifying a bird that's not pictured on this page, visit our Bird ID Forum.

If you've found a baby bird, click here.


Indigo Bunting, male (left, photo by Rod Nabholz) and Blue Grosbeak (right, photo by Patricia Velte).


Northern Mockingbird (left, photo by Tom Deitrich) and Cedar Waxwing (right, photo by Rod Nabholz).


Rose-breasted Grosbeak, male (left, photo by Wendell Long) and female (right, photo by Jean Kuns).


Barn Swallow (left, photo courtesy of USFWS) and Red-winged Blackbird, male (right, photo by Nan Moore).


Red-winged Blackbird, female (left, photo by Ernie Mastroianni) and House Finch, female (right, photo by Gregory Schneider).


House Finch, male, yellow variant (left, photo by Dick Lee) and red variant, male (right, photo by Christopher Appoldt).


House Wren (left, photo by Ernie Mastroianni) and House Sparrow (right, photo by Luis Tejo).


Song Sparrow (left, photo by Rod Nabholz) and Savannah Sparrow (right, photo courtesy of USFWS).


American Goldfinch, breeding male (left, photo by Judia Deal) and fall plumage (right, photo by Ernie Mastroianni)


Orchard Oriole, male (left, photo by Nick Kontonicolas) and Baltimore Oriole, male (right, photo by Fernando Cerra).


Eastern Bluebird, male (left) and female (right). Photos by Wendell Long.


Green Heron (left) and Great Blue Heron (right). Photos courtesy of USFWS.


Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (left, photo by Matt Bruce) and Black-crowned Night-Heron (right, photo by Fernando Cerra).


Scarlet Tanager, male (left) and American Redstart, male (right). Photos by Fernando Cerra.


Mourning Dove (left, photo by Wendell Long) and Killdeer (right, photo by Nan Moore).


Common Snipe (left, photo courtesy USFWS) and American Woodcock (right, photo courtesy of Wisconsin Society for Ornithology).


European Starling, breeding adult (left, photo courtesy of Wisconsin Society for Ornithology). European Starling, juvenile (right, photo by Patricia Velte).


Brown-headed Cowbird, female (left), and male (right). Photos by Nick Kontonicolas.


White-breasted Nuthatch, female (left, photo by Jack Curran) and Dark-eyed Junco, male (right, photo by Robert Strickland).


Northern Cardinal, normal-looking male (left, photo by Dennis Connell). Northern Cardinal, bald-headed male (right, photo by David Brown). To read about bald birds, click here.


Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker, male (left, photo by Wendell Long) and Female (right, photo by Rod Nabholz).


Red-shafted Northern Flicker, male (left, photo by David Dudeck) and Female (right, photo by Nan Moore).
Meet our photographers
Our sincere thanks to the photographers who supplied us with photos for this page. Here are links to their websites:

Christopher Appoldt
Matt Bruce
Fernando Cerra
Dennis Connell
Jack Curran
Nick Kontonicolas
Dick Lee
Wendell Long
Ernie Mastroianni
Nan Moore
Rod Nabholz
Gregory Schneider
Robert Strickland
United States Fish & Wildlife Service
Patricia Velte
Wisconsin Society for Ornithology
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