Most commonly seen birds in Texas
Project FeederWatch, a citizen science project where participants collect data on birds at their feeders, was founded in Ontario by Erica Dunn and the Long Point Bird Observatory in 1976. The project partnered with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology after 10 years to scale the project across the U.S. and Canada and now has over 20,000 participants.
Stacker compiled a list of the most common birds seen near feeders in Texas using data from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch. Birds are ranked by the percent of sites visited from Apr. 18 to Apr. 30. Ties are broken by the average group size when seen, any further ties were not broken. Data was collected at 304 count sites in Texas. States with less than 10 count sites were not included in rankings for each bird.
The data Project FeederWatch collects is used by scientists to understand trends in bird populations. If you would like to participate as a FeederWatcher you can learn more about the project here.
Read on to see which birds are most commonly seen in your state.
#1. Northern Cardinal
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 93%
- Average group size: 2.81
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Arkansas: 100%
--- #1. Louisiana: 100%
--- #1. Delaware: 100%
--- #1. Rhode Island: 100%
--- #5. South Carolina: 99%
#2. Carolina Chickadee
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 73%
- Average group size: 1.72
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Arkansas: 96%
--- #2. Georgia: 83%
--- #3. Alabama: 78%
--- #3. South Carolina: 78%
--- #5. North Carolina: 75%
#3. White-winged Dove
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 69%
- Average group size: 4.1
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Texas: 69%
--- #2. Arizona: 62%
--- #3. New Mexico: 55%
--- #4. Louisiana: 40%
--- #5. Oklahoma: 17%
#4. House Finch
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 69%
- Average group size: 2.69
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Mexico: 100%
--- #2. Utah: 95%
--- #3. Arizona: 94%
--- #4. Indiana: 93%
--- #4. Delaware: 93%
#5. Blue Jay
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 59%
- Average group size: 1.86
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Rhode Island: 100%
--- #2. South Dakota: 89%
--- #3. Connecticut: 87%
--- #3. Louisiana: 87%
--- #5. New Jersey: 86%
#6. Mourning Dove
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 57%
- Average group size: 2.61
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Delaware: 93%
--- #2. New Jersey: 91%
--- #3. Connecticut: 90%
--- #4. Pennsylvania: 89%
--- #5. Kansas: 88%
#7. Carolina Wren
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 53%
- Average group size: 1.34
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Arkansas: 91%
--- #2. Georgia: 83%
--- #3. North Carolina: 78%
--- #4. South Carolina: 70%
--- #5. Alabama: 64%
#8. House Sparrow
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 47%
- Average group size: 4.88
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Illinois: 90%
--- #2. Nebraska: 88%
--- #3. Iowa: 81%
--- #4. Wyoming: 80%
--- #5. Indiana: 79%
#9. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 38%
- Average group size: 1.41
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Louisiana: 60%
--- #2. South Carolina: 53%
--- #3. Arkansas: 52%
--- #3. Georgia: 52%
--- #5. Alabama: 51%
#10. Northern Mockingbird
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 35%
- Average group size: 1.18
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Florida: 57%
--- #2. Louisiana: 53%
--- #3. Tennessee: 52%
--- #3. Arkansas: 52%
--- #5. South Carolina: 51%
#11. Black-chinned Hummingbird
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 34%
- Average group size: 1.86
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Mexico: 66%
--- #2. Texas: 34%
--- #3. Arizona: 30%
--- #4. Nevada: 25%
--- #5. Utah: 11%
#12. Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 34%
- Average group size: 1.16
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Connecticut: 86%
--- #2. Florida: 81%
--- #3. Arkansas: 78%
--- #4. Kansas: 76%
--- #4. New Jersey: 76%
#13. Brown-headed Cowbird
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 32%
- Average group size: 3.67
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Arkansas: 61%
--- #2. West Virginia: 54%
--- #3. Tennessee: 53%
--- #3. Ohio: 53%
--- #5. Connecticut: 52%
#14. Downy Woodpecker
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 31%
- Average group size: 1.21
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Arkansas: 100%
--- #2. Connecticut: 89%
--- #3. Massachusetts: 83%
--- #4. Rhode Island: 82%
--- #5. Maine: 80%
#15. Lesser Goldfinch
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 29%
- Average group size: 4.05
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Utah: 79%
--- #2. Nevada: 75%
--- #3. California: 64%
--- #3. Arizona: 64%
--- #5. New Mexico: 62%
#16. Black-crested Titmouse
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 29%
- Average group size: 1.77
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Texas: 29%
#17. Tufted Titmouse
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 29%
- Average group size: 1.62
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Connecticut: 93%
--- #2. Arkansas: 91%
--- #3. Maine: 84%
--- #3. Georgia: 84%
--- #5. Rhode Island: 82%
#18. Bewick's Wren
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 28%
- Average group size: 1.2
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Texas: 28%
--- #2. California: 24%
--- #3. Washington: 19%
--- #4. New Mexico: 13%
--- #5. Oregon: 12%
#19. European Starling
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 23%
- Average group size: 3.23
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. South Dakota: 67%
--- #2. Iowa: 63%
--- #2. Nebraska: 63%
--- #4. Indiana: 60%
--- #4. New Jersey: 60%
#20. Painted Bunting
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 22%
- Average group size: 1.45
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Florida: 24%
--- #2. Texas: 22%
--- #3. South Carolina: 21%
--- #4. Oklahoma: 13%
--- #5. Louisiana: 7%