Birds

Birds and the Mississippi River

Each day, birds must find food, water, shelter, and places offering refuge from predators. This becomes even more important during migration as birds are often moving through unfamiliar terrain with unknown risks. The Mississippi River valley--along with its rich diversity of habitats--provides birds with those important resources. It is little wonder then that this large, south-flowing river forms the core of one of North America's great flyways and offers birders wonderful opportunities to observe a wide variety of species.

NPS/Gordon Dietzman

Selected Bird Species

The following links provide information about some of the bird species that either inhabit or migrate through the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.

B-F

Blackbird, Red-winged
Bluebird
Cardinal, Northern
Chickadee, Black-capped
Coot, American
Cormorant, Double-crested
Crow, American
Dove, Mourning
Dove, Rock (Pigeon)
Eagle, Bald
Egret, Great
Falcon, Peregrine
Finch, House
Flicker, Northern

G-R

Goldfinch, American
Goose, Canada
Grackle, Common
Grebe, Pied-billed
Grosbeak, Rose-breasted
Gull, Herring
Hawk, Red-Tailed
Heron, Great Blue
Jay, Blue
Killdeer
Kingfisher, Belted
Mallard
Oriole, Baltimore
Pheasant, Ring-necked
Robin, American

S-W

Sandpiper, Spotted
Sparrow, House
Starling
Swallow, Bank
Swallow, Barn
Swallow, Tree
Swan, Tundra
Thrasher, Brown
Vulture, Turkey
Wood Duck
Woodpecker, Downy
Woodpecker, Hairy
Warbler, Yellow

What Bird was That?

Use this simple bird key to help identify birds in your backyard or on your visits to the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.

Interactive Species List

This species list is constantly updated and may reflect a more recent checklist than the printable resource above. Search using the keyword "Birds" selected from the drop-down menu. The results may be printed, exported, or downloaded as a spreadsheet for greater analysis.

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Species Attribute Definitions

Definitions

Occurrence

Occurrence values are defined below. One or more Occurrence Tags may be associated with each Occurrence value.

Present: Species occurs in park; current, reliable evidence available.

Probably Present: High confidence species occurs in park but current, verified evidence needed.

Unconfirmed: Species is attributed to park but evidence is weak or absent.

Not In Park: Species is not known to occur in park.

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Occurrence Tags

Adjacent: Species is known to occur in areas near to or contiguous with park boundaries.

False Report: Species was reported to occur within the park, but current evidence indicates the report was based on misidentification, a taxonomic concept no longer accepted, or other similar problem of error or interpretation.

Historical: Species' historical occurrence in park is documented. Assigned based on judgment as opposed to determination based on age of the most recent evidence.

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Abundance

Abundant:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, and counted in relatively large numbers.
• Plants: Large number of individuals; wide ecological amplitude or occurring in habitats covering a large portion of the park.

Common:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, but not in large numbers.
• Plants: Large numbers of individuals predictably occurring in commonly encountered habitats but not those covering a large portion of the park.

Uncommon:

• Animals: Likely to be seen monthly in appropriate habitat and season. May be locally common.
• Plants: Few to moderate numbers of individuals; occurring either sporadically in commonly encountered habitats or in uncommon habitats.

Rare:

• Animals: Present, but usually seen only a few times each year.
• Plants: Few individuals, usually restricted to small areas of rare habitat.

Occasional:

• Animals: Occurs in the park at least once every few years, varying in numbers, but not necessarily every year.
• Plants: Abundance variable from year to year (e.g., desert plants).

Unknown: Abundance unknown

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Nativeness

Native: Species naturally occurs in park or region.

Non-native: Species occurs on park lands as a result of deliberate or accidental human activities.

Unknown: Nativeness status is unknown or ambiguous.

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List Differences

The Checklist contains only those species that are designated as "present" or "probably present" in the park.

The Full List includes all the checklist species in addition to species that are unconfirmed, historically detected, or incorrectly reported as being found in the park. The full list also contains species that are "in review" because their status in the park hasn't been fully determined. Additional details about the status of each species is included in the full list.

The checklist will almost always contain fewer species than the full list.

Select a Park:

Mississippi National River & Recreation Area

Select a Species Category (optional):

All Amphibians Birds Fish Mammals Reptiles Vascular Plants

Get Checklist Get Full List List Differences

Species attribute definitions

Search results will be displayed here.

Visit NPSpecies for more comprehensive information and advanced search capability. Have a suggestion or comment on this list? Let us know.