The United States supports one of the most diverse bird communities in the world, shaped by its wide range of climates, landscapes, and major migration routes. From boreal forests and grasslands to deserts, wetlands, and coastlines, birdlife varies strongly from state to state.
This page serves as a gateway to AviBirds’ state-focused bird guides, helping you explore birds of the United States through individual state hubs, each offering local identification and visual reference guides.
Explore Birds by US Region
Use the regional links below to navigate to state-focused bird guides, each bringing together local bird groups and visual identification resources.
Northeast
The Northeast is shaped by mixed forests, coastlines, and dense migration corridors, supporting a wide range of breeding, wintering, and passage birds. Seasonal change strongly influences bird presence across states.
Midwest
The Midwest is defined by grasslands, wetlands, forests, and major interior flyways that host a rich mix of resident species and long-distance migrants. Large lakes and river systems play a key role in bird distribution.
South
The South features warm climates, extensive coastlines, and diverse inland habitats, making it one of the most bird-rich regions year-round. Many species reach their northern or southern range limits here.
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- West Virginia
West
The West spans deserts, mountains, high plateaus, and Pacific coastlines, creating the greatest ecological variation in the country. Elevation and geography strongly shape which birds occur in each state.
Explore Birds Across North America
Many bird species found in the United States occur across much of North America. Use the guides below to explore broader species coverage and visual identification resources.
12 Types of Doves and Pigeons in North America: ID Guide
North America is home to a diverse group of doves and pigeons, ranging from familiar backyard birds to localized forest and tropical species found only in limited parts of the continent. All belong to the family Columbidae and are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks, slender bills, and a characteristic head-bobbing walk, feeding primarily on seeds, fruits, and other plant matter. This guide highlights the doves and pigeons that birders are most likely to encounter across the United States and Canada, including widespread residents, established introduced species, and a small number of regular visitors. It focuses on practical… Read more
14 Purple Birds in North America (with Pictures for Easy ID)
Purple is one of the rarest bird colors in North America, making any bird with a noticeable violet, plum, or purple sheen especially memorable. Some species, such as Purple Gallinules, Purple Martins, and male Varied Buntings, show extensive purple coloration across large areas of the body, while others produce a purple impression through iridescent feathers that flash violet and blue in certain lighting conditions. This ID guide highlights the purple birds most likely to be encountered in the United States and Canada and provides practical identification tips based on plumage, behavior, habitat, and range. Read more
4 Types of Eagles in North America: Identification Guide
North America hosts a small group of eagles, with four species recorded across the United States and Canada. All belong to the sea eagle and booted eagle lineage within the family Accipitridae, a group of large raptors that occupy a wide range of aquatic and open habitats. Two of these, the Bald Eagle and the Golden Eagle, are native and regularly occurring across the continent, while the White-tailed Eagle and the Steller’s Sea Eagle are rare vagrants that appear only occasionally, mainly in Alaska and only exceptionally elsewhere. This guide introduces all four species and highlights the key features that… Read more
20 Types of Blue Birds You Can See in North America
North America is home to a diverse array of blue birds found across a wide range of habitats. These include familiar species such as the “true” bluebirds of the genus Sialia, alongside jays, swallows, and smaller songbirds whose blue tones range from vivid sky-blue to soft gray-blue depending on light and viewing angle. This ID guide highlights species most likely to appear blue at first glance in the United States and Canada and provides practical, field-based tips for telling them apart. Read more
22 Types of Yellow Birds You Can See in North America
North America hosts a diverse array of yellow birds found across a wide range of habitats in the United States and Canada. These include familiar feeder visitors such as goldfinches, woodland and forest birds like warblers and tanagers that flash color among leaves and branches, and a variety of migrants whose vivid plumage stands out during spring and summer. This ID guide highlights species most likely to appear yellow at first glance and provides practical, field-based tips for telling them apart. Read more
13 Types of Red Birds You Can See in North America
North America supports a wide variety of red birds that occur in many different habitats and situations across the United States and Canada. These include cardinals often seen at feeders and in shrubby areas, tanagers of forest canopies, several finches of woodland and open habitats, and, more rarely, striking red waders in coastal wetlands. This ID guide focuses on the species most likely to match a red first impression and explains how to identify them using practical, field-based clues. Read more
17 Types of Finches in North America: Identification Guide
North America supports 17 species of true finches that occur regularly across the United States and Canada. All belong to the family Fringillidae and are seed-eaters with conical bills, ranging from common backyard birds such as the American Goldfinch and House Finch, to the introduced European Goldfinch, and extreme habitat specialists including rosy-finches and crossbills. Read more
12 Types of Herons in North America: Identification Guide
North America supports 12 species of herons that occur regularly across the United States and Canada, from large, conspicuous wetland birds to small, highly secretive marsh specialists. All are members of the family Ardeidae, which includes species commonly referred to as herons, egrets, and bitterns, a distinction based largely on size, behavior, and habitat use. These species collectively occupy a wide range of wetland habitats, from coastal estuaries and tidal flats to inland marshes, rivers, and flooded forests, with some breeding near the northern limits of suitable wetland conditions. Read more
15 Types of Hummingbirds in North America: ID Guide
North America supports 15 hummingbird species that maintain regular breeding populations in recent years across the United States and Canada. These birds belong to the family Trochilidae and represent the northernmost extension of a group otherwise centered in the Neotropics, adapted to seasonal climates and a wide range of habitats, from deserts and coastal scrub to montane forests and alpine meadows. Read more
15 Types of Hawks in North America: Identification Guide
North America supports a diverse group of hawks, with 15 species regularly occurring across the United States and Canada. Most fall into two broad groups: buteos, which are broad-winged, soaring hawks often seen circling high over open landscapes, and accipiters, slimmer, long-tailed forest hawks built for fast, agile flight through trees. A few additional species represent other buteonine or Neotropical lineages, reflecting different evolutionary histories and hunting strategies. Read more
9 Black-and-Red Birds You Can See in North America
Across North America, the most familiar black-and-red birds include the red-winged blackbird, red-headed woodpecker, and scarlet tanager, as well as a number of other widespread or locally occurring species. This guide explains how to identify these birds throughout the United States and Canada by focusing on their plumage patterns, vocalizations, and seasonal movements in habitats ranging from forests and wetlands to open fields and backyard landscapes. Read more
9 Black-and-Yellow Birds You Can See in North America
Across North America, the most common black-and-yellow birds include the American goldfinch, yellow-headed blackbird, and various western orioles. This guide explains how to distinguish these and other similarly colored species throughout the United States and Canada by their plumage patterns, calls, and seasonal movements, whether you encounter them in forests, wetlands, or backyard habitats. Read more
19 Types of Owls in North America: Identification Guide
North America supports an exceptional diversity of owls, with 19 species regularly found across the United States and Canada. Most belong to the family Strigidae, with a single species representing Tytonidae, and together they occupy nearly every major ecosystem on the continent, united by silent or near-silent flight, specialized senses, and activity patterns that range from daylight to deep nocturnal hours. Read more
22 Types of Woodpeckers in North America: ID Guide
North America is home to 22 woodpecker species, found from the forests of Alaska and Canada to the deserts of the Southwest. All belong to the family Picidae – a remarkable group of climbing, drumming, and bark-probing birds, each with its own distinctive appearance, voice, and habits. Read more
5 Types of Loons in North America: Identification Guide
Loons, or divers, are large aquatic birds of the genus Gavia (family Gaviidae), renowned for their haunting calls, striking plumage, and mastery of underwater pursuit. All five of the world’s species occur in North America, from the widespread Common Loon to the smaller Red-throated and Pacific Loons, and the far northern Arctic and Yellow-billed Loons. Built for life on the water, they have dense bones, strong rear-set legs, and long, tapered bodies that make them exceptional divers but awkward on land. Read more
