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 Feb. 28 to Mar. 13. Ties are broken by the average group size when seen, any further ties were not broken. Data was collected at 332 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 Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 88%
- Average group size: 2.86
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Mississippi: 100%
--- #1. Arkansas: 100%
--- #3. South Carolina: 96%
--- #4. Kentucky: 94%
--- #4. Louisiana: 94%
#2. Carolina Chickadee
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 69%
- Average group size: 1.76
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Louisiana: 94%
--- #2. Arkansas: 90%
--- #3. Georgia: 88%
--- #4. South Carolina: 76%
--- #5. North Carolina: 74%
#3. White-winged Dove
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 67%
- Average group size: 4.31
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Texas: 67%
--- #2. New Mexico: 46%
--- #3. Oklahoma: 33%
--- #4. Arizona: 26%
--- #5. Mississippi: 20%
#4. House Finch
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 64%
- Average group size: 2.75
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Mexico: 95%
--- #2. Nevada: 94%
--- #3. Utah: 93%
--- #4. Alabama: 91%
--- #5. Arizona: 90%
#5. Mourning Dove
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 53%
- Average group size: 2.77
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Kentucky: 89%
--- #2. New Jersey: 88%
--- #2. Delaware: 88%
--- #2. Louisiana: 88%
--- #5. Pennsylvania: 83%
#6. Blue Jay
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 52%
- Average group size: 1.91
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Nebraska: 79%
--- #2. Vermont: 73%
--- #3. New Jersey: 72%
--- #4. New York: 71%
--- #4. Massachusetts: 71%
#7. Carolina Wren
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 50%
- Average group size: 1.33
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Georgia: 81%
--- #2. Arkansas: 80%
--- #3. North Carolina: 77%
--- #4. Alabama: 74%
--- #5. Virginia: 65%
#8. House Sparrow
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 44%
- Average group size: 5.26
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Illinois: 90%
--- #2. Nebraska: 88%
--- #3. Iowa: 87%
--- #4. South Dakota: 80%
--- #5. Indiana: 75%
#9. Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 37%
- Average group size: 1.59
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. South Carolina: 64%
--- #2. Georgia: 60%
--- #3. Nevada: 56%
--- #3. North Carolina: 56%
--- #5. Alabama: 45%
#10. Northern Mockingbird
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 33%
- Average group size: 1.15
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Arkansas: 55%
--- #2. Louisiana: 50%
--- #3. Georgia: 49%
--- #4. Florida: 48%
--- #4. Tennessee: 48%
#11. Downy Woodpecker
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 32%
- Average group size: 1.2
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Connecticut: 87%
--- #2. Missouri: 85%
--- #2. Massachusetts: 85%
--- #4. New Hampshire: 82%
--- #5. Vermont: 81%
#12. Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 32%
- Average group size: 1.16
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Connecticut: 78%
--- #2. New Jersey: 75%
--- #3. Nebraska: 73%
--- #4. Florida: 71%
--- #5. West Virginia: 70%
#13. Chipping Sparrow
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 31%
- Average group size: 4.54
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. South Carolina: 64%
--- #1. Georgia: 64%
--- #3. Alabama: 47%
--- #4. North Carolina: 42%
--- #5. Mississippi: 40%
#14. Lesser Goldfinch
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 30%
- Average group size: 4.07
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Nevada: 75%
--- #2. Utah: 73%
--- #3. Arizona: 64%
--- #4. California: 63%
--- #5. New Mexico: 56%
#15. Black-crested Titmouse
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 30%
- Average group size: 1.83
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Texas: 30%
#16. Tufted Titmouse
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 30%
- Average group size: 1.65
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Rhode Island: 92%
--- #2. Arkansas: 90%
--- #2. Mississippi: 90%
--- #4. Connecticut: 89%
--- #5. Georgia: 86%
#17. Red-winged Blackbird
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 28%
- Average group size: 7.7
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Kansas: 54%
--- #1. Illinois: 54%
--- #3. Ohio: 48%
--- #4. Idaho: 45%
--- #4. Delaware: 45%
#18. Brown-headed Cowbird
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 27%
- Average group size: 4.33
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Mississippi: 70%
--- #2. Louisiana: 69%
--- #3. South Carolina: 45%
--- #4. Georgia: 41%
--- #5. Alabama: 40%
#19. American Robin
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 27%
- Average group size: 2.31
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Nebraska: 91%
--- #2. Arkansas: 75%
--- #3. Kentucky: 74%
--- #4. Kansas: 71%
--- #5. New Mexico: 68%
#20. Bewick's Wren
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 26%
- Average group size: 1.17
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Texas: 26%
--- #2. Washington: 24%
--- #3. California: 22%
--- #4. Oregon: 15%
--- #5. Oklahoma: 10%