Birds by Region

Explore North America one habitat at a time

Bird ranges cross borders, so these guides focus on climate, habitat, migration, and the places birds are actually found.

Use location as an identification filter

Range, season, and habitat remove unlikely choices

Record where and when you saw the bird before opening a guide or app. The complete guide to identifying a bird you saw explains how region and season work with size, shape, behaviour, colour pattern, and sound.

Canada

Explore birds found across the provinces and territories, from southern backyards to northern migration routes.

United States

Discover birds associated with states, flyways, coastlines, deserts, forests, grasslands, and wetlands.

Northeast

Woodlands, cities, lakes, and Atlantic habitats support a wide mix of resident and migratory birds.

Southeast

Warm climates, coastal marshes, forests, and wetlands create rich birding throughout the year.

Midwest and Great Lakes

Prairies, farms, forests, shorelines, and major migration corridors shape the region’s bird life.

Southwest

Deserts, canyons, mountains, and river corridors support many highly distinctive species.

Pacific Northwest

Coasts, rainforests, inland valleys, mountains, and urban gardens provide varied habitats.

Western North America

From coastal ranges to open plains, elevation and water often determine which birds appear.

Continue identifying birds

Combine place with structure

Build an identification shortlist

Use location, date, habitat, size, shape, pattern, behaviour, and sound.

Recognize the bird group

Use silhouettes and body proportions before comparing fine markings.

Explore familiar bird groups

Compare songbirds, woodpeckers, raptors, waterfowl, owls, and hummingbirds.

Use sound in regional context

Compare the recording only with birds expected in the place, habitat, and season.

Use behaviour as a filter

Match posture, feeding, movement, and flight with the habitat and bird group.

Compare regional field marks

Use bold patterns after narrowing the species list by place, habitat, and season.

Allow for plumage variation

Regional populations, season, age, sex, moult, and feather wear can change appearance.

Identify common backyard sparrows

Apply size, shape, colour pattern, behaviour, habitat, sound, range, and season to eight familiar birds.

Song Sparrow vs House Sparrow

Compare a streaked, longer-tailed native sparrow with a stockier bird associated with buildings.

White-crowned vs White-throated

Compare throat patch, yellow lores, crown form, age, bill, habitat, sound, and season.

Chipping vs American Tree

Use eye line, bill, breast spot, shape, season, habitat, and sound.

Song Sparrow vs Savannah Sparrow

Compare tail length, bill size, fine versus coarse streaking, yellow near the eye, habitat, and sound.

Fox Sparrow vs Song Sparrow

Use size, bill, chevrons, eye line, leaf scratching, season, and regional form.

Finches across North America

Let region and season shape the shortlist

Cassin’s Finch is western, Purple Finch patterns differ between coasts, and several northern finches move south irregularly in winter.

Identify common backyard finches

Compare eight birds with equal Canada and United States coverage.

House Finch vs Purple Finch

Check local range, habitat, date, and regional plumage before deciding.

Compare three red finches

Use range, crown, bill, red placement, female face pattern, undertail, wings, tail, and sound.

Goldfinch vs Pine Siskin

Separate them by streaking, bill shape, winter plumage, wings, tail, flight, calls, and occurrence.

Evening vs Pine Grosbeak

Use bill size, wing contrast, tail length, plumage, food, calls, and winter movement.

Redpoll vs Pine Siskin

Compare cap, face, bill, streaking, wing bars, yellow flashes, calls, and flock behaviour.

Common backyard woodpeckers

Compare tree-climbing birds across North America

Use size, bill proportion, back pattern, head markings, wing and tail colour, calls, drumming, behaviour, habitat, region, age, and season.

Identify common backyard woodpeckers

Compare Downy, Hairy, Northern Flicker, Pileated, Red-bellied, Red-headed, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and Red-breasted Sapsucker.

Downy vs Hairy Woodpecker

Use bill proportion, body size, outer-tail markings, calls, drumming, perch size, age, sex, range, and habitat.

Yellow-shafted vs Red-shafted Flicker

Compare shaft colour, male moustache, face, crown, nape, sex, range, migration, and intermediate birds.

Compare three sapsuckers

Use geography, red distribution, face stripes, nape, throat, wing patch, age, sap wells, sound, and hybrids.

Red-bellied vs Red-headed Woodpecker

Use the whole head, barred or solid back, white wing patches, belly, sex, juveniles, behaviour, habitat, and range.

Northern Flicker vs Pileated Woodpecker

Compare size, colour, crest, white rump, white underwings, feeding style, flight, calls, drumming, and tree signs.

Practise with chickadees