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List of birds of Arizona facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus 20061226
The cactus wren is the state bird of Arizona.

This is a list of all the wild bird species that have been seen in Arizona. This list was put together by the Arizona Bird Committee (ABC) up to January 2023. It helps us keep track of all the amazing birds that call Arizona home, even if just for a visit!

The birds are listed in a special scientific order, following the Check-list of North and Middle American Birds. This list is made by the American Ornithological Society (AOS). The names of the bird families come from the Clements taxonomy.

You'll see some special letters next to the bird names. Here's what they mean:

  • (n) – Nesting: This means the bird species has successfully hatched young in Arizona at least once.
  • (Int) – Introduced: These are birds that were brought to North America by people, either on purpose or by accident.
  • (Ex) – Extirpated: These birds used to live and breed in Arizona but don't anymore. Sometimes people try to bring them back, but they haven't settled down yet.
  • (A) – Accidental: These birds are usually seen only a few times, or even just once! They are rare visitors to Arizona.
  • (H) – Hypothetical: There's a good chance these birds were seen, but there's no clear proof like a photo or a specimen.

The ABC list has 570 different bird species! Out of these, 153 are accidental visitors, 8 were introduced by humans, 4 used to live here but are now gone, and 2 are hypothetical. About 309 species have been recorded nesting in Arizona.

Ducks, Geese, and Swans

Order: Anseriformes   Family: Anatidae

Black-bellied Whistling Duck - Texas, USA H8O4228 (15242866397)
Black-bellied whistling-duck
Eurasian Wigeon - male
Eurasian wigeon

This family includes ducks, geese, and swans. These birds are great at living in water. They have webbed feet for swimming, flattened bills for eating in water, and special oily feathers that shed water easily.

New World Quail

Order: Galliformes   Family: Odontophoridae

New World quails are small, round birds that live on the ground. They look and act like the quails from the Old World, but they are not closely related.

Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies

Order: Galliformes   Family: Phasianidae

This family includes pheasants and their relatives. These are ground-dwelling birds that vary in size. They are generally plump with broad, short wings. Many of these birds are hunted for sport or raised for food.

Grebes

Order: Podicipediformes   Family: Podicipedidae

Grebes are small to medium-sized diving birds that live in freshwater. They have special lobed toes that make them excellent swimmers and divers. However, their feet are set far back on their bodies, so they are clumsy on land.

Pigeons and Doves

Order: Columbiformes   Family: Columbidae

Pigeons and doves are birds with sturdy bodies, short necks, and thin bills. They have a soft, fleshy area at the base of their bill called a cere.

Cuckoos

Order: Cuculiformes   Family: Cuculidae

This family includes cuckoos, roadrunners, and anis. These birds come in different sizes, but they all have slender bodies, long tails, and strong legs.

Nightjars and Allies

Order: Caprimulgiformes   Family: Caprimulgidae

Nightjars are medium-sized birds that are active at night. They usually build their nests on the ground. They have long wings, short legs, and very short bills. Their soft feathers are colored to blend in with tree bark or leaves, helping them hide.

Swifts

Order: Apodiformes   Family: Apodidae

Swifts are small birds that spend most of their lives flying. They have very short legs and almost never land on the ground. Instead, they perch on vertical surfaces. Many swifts have long, swept-back wings that look like a crescent moon or a boomerang.

Hummingbirds

Order: Apodiformes   Family: Trochilidae

Hummingbirds are tiny birds famous for hovering in mid-air by flapping their wings incredibly fast. They are the only birds that can fly backward!

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

Order: Gruiformes   Family: Rallidae

This large family includes rails, crakes, coots, and gallinules. Most of these birds live in thick plants near lakes, swamps, or rivers. They are often shy and hard to spot. They have strong legs and long toes, which help them walk on soft, uneven ground. They tend to have short, rounded wings and are not very strong fliers.

Cranes

Order: Gruiformes   Family: Gruidae

Cranes are large birds with long legs and long necks. When they fly, their necks are stretched out, which is different from herons. Many cranes have fancy and loud dances to attract a mate.

Thick-knees

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Burhinidae

Thick-knees are a group of wading birds found in tropical areas around the world. They are medium to large birds with strong black or yellow-black bills, big yellow eyes, and feathers that help them blend in. Even though they are waders, most prefer dry or semi-dry places.

Stilts and Avocets

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Recurvirostridae

This family includes avocets and stilts. Avocets have long legs and bills that curve upwards. Stilts have extremely long legs and long, thin, straight bills.

Plovers and Lapwings

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Charadriidae

This family includes plovers, dotterels, and lapwings. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short, thick necks, and long, pointed wings. They live in open areas worldwide, usually near water.

Jacanas

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Jacanidae

Jacanas are a family of wading birds found in tropical regions. You can spot them by their huge feet and claws, which let them walk on floating plants in shallow lakes.

Sandpipers and Allies

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Scolopacidae

This is a large and varied family of small to medium-sized shorebirds. It includes sandpipers, curlews, godwits, and phalaropes. Most of these birds eat small insects and worms they find in mud or soil. Different bill and leg lengths allow many species to feed in the same areas without competing for food.

Skuas and Jaegers

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Stercorariidae

Skuas and jaegers are medium to large birds, usually gray or brown. They often have white marks on their wings. They have longish bills with hooked tips and webbed feet with sharp claws. They are strong, acrobatic fliers.

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Laridae

This family includes gulls, terns, and skimmers. Gulls are usually gray or white with black marks. They have strong bills and webbed feet. Terns are medium to large seabirds, often gray or white with black heads. Most terns dive for fish, but some catch insects from the water. Skimmers are tropical birds with a long lower bill. They fly low over the water to scoop up small fish.

Tropicbirds

Order: Phaethontiformes   Family: Phaethontidae

Tropicbirds are slender white birds that live in tropical oceans. They have very long central tail feathers. Their long wings and heads have black markings.

Loons

Order: Gaviiformes   Family: Gaviidae

Loons are aquatic birds, about the size of a large duck, but they are not related to ducks. They are mostly gray or black and have spear-shaped bills. Loons swim well and fly okay, but they are very clumsy on land because their legs are placed far back on their bodies.

Albatrosses

Order: Procellariiformes   Family: Diomedeidae

Albatrosses are some of the largest flying birds. The great albatrosses have the biggest wingspans of any living birds.

Northern Storm-Petrels

Order: Procellariiformes   Family: Hydrobatidae

Storm-petrels are the smallest seabirds. They are related to petrels and eat tiny sea creatures and small fish from the water's surface, often while hovering. Their flight is fluttery, sometimes like a bat.

Shearwaters and Petrels

Order: Procellariiformes   Family: Procellariidae

These are the main group of medium-sized "true petrels." They have nostrils that are joined together and a long, working outer primary feather.

Storks

Order: Ciconiiformes   Family: Ciconiidae

Storks are large, heavy wading birds with long legs, long necks, and strong, long bills. They have wide wingspans. Unlike other wading birds, storks don't have special powder to clean fish slime from their feathers. Storks also cannot make sounds because they lack a pharynx.

Frigatebirds

Order: Suliformes   Family: Fregatidae

Frigatebirds are large seabirds usually found over tropical oceans. They are black, or black and white, with long wings and deeply forked tails. The males have colorful throat pouches that can inflate. They cannot swim or walk well and cannot take off from flat ground. They have the largest wingspan compared to their body weight of any bird, allowing them to stay in the air for over a week!

Boobies and Gannets

Order: Suliformes   Family: Sulidae

This family includes gannets and boobies. Both are medium-large coastal seabirds that dive headfirst into the water to catch fish.

Anhingas

Order: Suliformes   Family: Anhingidae

Anhingas are water birds that look like cormorants, with very long necks and long, straight bills. They eat fish and often swim with only their neck visible above the water.

Cormorants and Shags

Order: Suliformes   Family: Phalacrocoracidae

Cormorants are medium to large water birds, usually with dark feathers and colored skin on their faces. Their bills are long, thin, and sharply hooked. They have four webbed toes on each foot.

Pelicans

Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Pelecanidae

Pelicans are very large water birds with a special pouch under their bill. Like other birds in their order, they have four webbed toes.

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns

Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Ardeidae

This family includes herons, egrets, and bitterns. Herons and egrets are medium to large wading birds with long necks and legs. Bitterns have shorter necks and are more secretive. Birds in this family fly with their necks pulled back, unlike storks or ibises.

Ibises and Spoonbills

Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Threskiornithidae

This family includes ibises and spoonbills. They have long, broad wings and long bodies, necks, and legs. Ibises have bills that curve downwards, while spoonbills have straight bills that are flattened like a spoon.

New World Vultures

Order: Cathartiformes   Family: Cathartidae

New World vultures are not closely related to Old World vultures, but they look similar because they evolved in similar ways. Like Old World vultures, they eat dead animals. However, New World vultures have a good sense of smell to find food, while Old World vultures rely on sight.

  • California condor, Gymnogyps californianus (n) (Ex) (This bird was brought back to Arizona in 1996 after being gone for 100 years. They successfully nested again in 2003.)
  • Black vulture, Coragyps atratus (n)
  • Turkey vulture, Cathartes aura (n)

Osprey

Order: Accipitriformes   Family: Pandionidae

This family has only one type of bird: the osprey. Ospreys are fish-eating birds of prey. They have very large, strong, hooked bills, strong legs, powerful talons, and excellent eyesight.

  • Osprey, Pandion haliaetus (n)

Hawks, Eagles, and Kites

Order: Accipitriformes   Family: Accipitridae

This family includes hawks, eagles, kites, and harriers. These birds of prey have very large, powerful, hooked bills to tear meat from their prey. They also have strong legs, powerful talons, and sharp eyesight.

Barn-Owls

Order: Strigiformes   Family: Tytonidae

Owls in this family are medium to large. They have big heads and special heart-shaped faces.

Owls

Order: Strigiformes   Family: Strigidae

These are the typical or "true" owls. They are usually solitary birds of prey that hunt at night. They have large eyes that face forward, good hearing, a hawk-like beak, and a clear circle of feathers around each eye called a facial disk.

Trogons

Order: Trogoniformes   Family: Trogonidae

Trogons live in tropical forests around the world. They eat insects and fruit. Their wide bills and weak legs are good for their diet and for living in trees. Even though they can fly fast, they don't like to fly long distances. Trogons do not migrate. They have soft, often colorful feathers, and males and females look different. They nest in tree holes or termite nests.

Kingfishers

Order: Coraciiformes   Family: Alcedinidae

Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads, long, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails.

Woodpeckers

Order: Piciformes   Family: Picidae

Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like bills, short legs, stiff tails, and long tongues for catching insects. Many woodpeckers tap loudly on tree trunks with their bills.

Falcons and Caracaras

Order: Falconiformes   Family: Falconidae

This family includes falcons and caracaras. They are different from hawks and eagles because they kill their prey with their bills instead of their talons.

New World and African Parrots

Order: Psittaciformes   Family: Psittacidae

Parrots have strong, curved bills, stand upright, and have strong legs with clawed feet that can grasp. Many parrots are brightly colored. They range in size from about 3 inches (8 cm) to 3 feet (1 meter) long. Most of the more than 150 species in this family live in the New World.

Old World Parrots

Order: Psittaciformes   Family: Psittaculidae

Like other parrots, these birds have strong curved bills, stand upright, and have strong legs with clawed feet. Many are brightly colored. Old World parrots are found in Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

Tityras and Allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Tityridae

This family of birds lives in forests and woodlands in Central and South America. They are small to medium-sized birds.

Tyrant Flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Tyrannidae

Tyrant flycatchers live all over North and South America. They look a bit like Old World flycatchers but are stronger and have tougher bills. They don't sing as complex songs as other songbirds. Most of them eat insects.

Vireos, Shrike-Babblers, and Erpornis

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Vireonidae

Vireos are small to medium-sized birds mostly found in the New World. They are usually greenish and look like wood-warblers, but they have stronger bills.

Shrikes

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Laniidae

Shrikes are known for catching other birds and small animals. They sometimes stick the uneaten parts of their prey on thorns, like a butcher. A shrike's bill is hooked, similar to a bird of prey.

Crows, Jays, and Magpies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Corvidae

This family includes crows, ravens, jays, and magpies. Corvids are larger than average songbirds, and some of the bigger species are very smart.

Penduline-Tits

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Remizidae

The verdin is the only member of this family in the New World. It's one of the smallest songbirds in North America. It's mostly gray, and adults have a bright yellow head and a reddish "shoulder patch." Verdins eat insects and are usually found alone, except when they pair up to build their noticeable nests.

  • Verdin, Auriparus flaviceps (n)

Tits, Chickadees, and Titmice

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Paridae

The Paridae are mostly small, sturdy woodland birds with short, strong bills. Some have crests on their heads. They are adaptable birds that eat a mix of seeds and insects.

Larks

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Alaudidae

Larks are small birds that live on the ground. They often have fancy songs and display flights. Most larks look quite plain. They eat insects and seeds.

Swallows

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Hirundinidae

This family of birds is built for catching food while flying. They have slender, streamlined bodies, long, pointed wings, and short bills with wide mouths. Their feet are better for perching than walking.

Long-tailed Tits

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Aegithalidae

Long-tailed tits are a family of small songbirds with medium to long tails. They build woven, bag-like nests in trees. Most of them eat a mixed diet that includes insects.

  • Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus (n)

Kinglets

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Regulidae

Kinglets are a small family of birds that look like some warblers. They are very small birds that eat insects. Adult kinglets have colorful crowns on their heads, which is how they got their name.

Waxwings

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Bombycillidae

Waxwings are a group of songbirds with soft, silky feathers. They have unique red tips on some of their wing feathers that look like sealing wax. These birds live in northern forests and eat insects in summer and berries in winter.

Silky-Flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Ptiliogonatidae

Silky-flycatchers are a small family of songbirds mostly found in Central America. They are related to waxwings, and most species have small crests on their heads.

Nuthatches

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Sittidae

Nuthatches are small woodland birds. They have a special ability to climb down trees headfirst, which most other birds can't do. Nuthatches have big heads, short tails, and strong bills and feet.

Treecreepers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Certhiidae

Treecreepers are small woodland birds, brown on top and white underneath. They have thin, pointed, down-curved bills that they use to pull insects out of tree bark. They have stiff tail feathers, like woodpeckers, which help them support themselves on vertical trees.

Gnatcatchers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Polioptilidae

These delicate birds look like some Old World warblers in how they are built and what they do. They move constantly through leaves looking for insects. Gnatcatchers are mostly soft bluish-gray and have the typical long, sharp bill of an insect-eater. Many species have clear black patterns on their heads (especially males) and long, often upright, black and white tails.

Wrens

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Troglodytidae

Wrens are small and often hard to see, except for their loud songs. They have short wings and thin, downward-curved bills. Several species often hold their tails straight up. All wrens eat insects.

Mockingbirds and Thrashers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Mimidae

This family includes thrashers, mockingbirds, and New World catbirds. These birds are famous for their amazing songs and their ability to copy many other bird calls and outdoor sounds. They usually have dull gray and brown feathers.

Starlings

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Sturnidae

Starlings and mynas are small to medium-sized birds from the Old World with strong feet. They fly strongly and directly, and most live in large groups. They prefer open country and eat insects and fruit. Many species have dark feathers with a metallic shine.

Dippers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Cinclidae

Dippers are a group of perching birds that live near water in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. They are named for their bobbing or dipping movements. These birds can dive underwater and walk on the bottom to find insect larvae to eat.

Thrushes and Allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Turdidae

Thrushes are a group of songbirds that are mostly found in the Old World. They are plump, soft-feathered, small to medium-sized birds that eat insects or sometimes a mix of foods. They often feed on the ground. Many thrushes have beautiful songs.

Old World Flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Muscicapidae

Old World flycatchers are a large family of small songbirds. These are mainly small birds that live in trees and eat insects, often catching them while flying.

Olive Warbler

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Peucedramidae

The olive warbler has a gray body with some olive-green on its wings and two white bars. The male's head and chest are orange, and it has a black patch through its eye. This is the only species in its family.

Old World Sparrows

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Passeridae

Old World sparrows are small songbirds. They are generally small, plump, brownish or grayish birds with short tails and strong, short bills. Sparrows eat seeds, but they also eat small insects.

Wagtails and Pipits

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Motacillidae

This family includes wagtails, longclaws, and pipits. They are slender songbirds with medium to long tails. They eat insects from the ground in open areas.

Finches, Euphonias, and Allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Fringillidae

Finches are songbirds that eat seeds. They are small to medium-large and have strong bills, usually cone-shaped. All finches have twelve tail feathers and nine primary flight feathers. These birds fly with a bouncy motion, flapping and then gliding with closed wings. Most finches sing well.

Longspurs and Snow Buntings

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Calcariidae

This group of songbirds used to be part of the New World sparrows. They are different in several ways and are usually found in open grassy areas.

Old World Buntings

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Emberizidae

This family of songbirds contains only one genus. Until 2017, the New World sparrows were also considered part of this family.

New World Sparrows

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Passerellidae

Until 2017, these birds were part of the Emberizidae family. Most of them are called sparrows, but they are not closely related to the Old World sparrows. Many of these birds have unique patterns on their heads.

Yellow-breasted Chat

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Icteriidae

This bird was once thought to be a wood-warbler, but experts weren't sure. In 2017, it was placed in its own family.

Troupials and Allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Icteridae

This group includes grackles, New World blackbirds, and New World orioles. They are small to medium-sized, often colorful songbirds found only in the New World. Most species are mainly black, often with bright yellow, orange, or red colors.

New World Warblers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Parulidae

Wood-warblers are a group of small, often colorful songbirds found only in the New World. Most live in trees, but some live more on the ground. Most birds in this family eat insects.

Cardinals and Allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Cardinalidae

Cardinals are a family of strong, seed-eating birds with powerful bills. They usually live in open woodlands. Males and females often have different colored feathers.

Tanagers and Allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Thraupidae

Tanagers are a large group of small to medium-sized songbirds found only in the New World, mostly in tropical areas. Many species are brightly colored. As a family, they eat a variety of foods, but some specialize in fruits, seeds, insects, or other types of food. Most have short, rounded wings.

See also

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