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List of birds of California facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Callipepla californica2 (edit1)
The California quail is the official state bird of California.

This is a list of all the different types of birds you can find living naturally in California. This list is put together by the California Bird Records Committee (CBRC). Sometimes, a few extra birds that are rarely seen or whose origins are unknown are also added.

As of August 5, 2022, there are 681 bird species on the CBRC list.

  • Endemic (En): These two species are found only in California and nowhere else in the world.
  • Introduced (I): Thirteen species were brought to California by people, either on purpose or by accident. They now live here on their own.
  • Extirpated (Ex): One species used to live in California but has now completely disappeared from the state.
  • Reintroduction in progress (RI): One species disappeared from the wild in California, but people are working to bring it back.
  • Review Species (*): About 200 species are very rare visitors to California. They are seen four or fewer times a year.
  • Unknown Origin (UO): Some birds have been seen, but experts aren't sure if they flew here naturally or escaped from captivity.

Sometimes, other birds are seen in California, but they are usually pets that escaped or were set free. These birds are not included in the official list because they aren't truly wild here.

This list follows the order used by the American Ornithological Society (AOS), which is how bird scientists group birds together.

Ducks, Geese, and Swans

Order: Anseriformes – Family: Anatidae

This family includes ducks, geese, and swans. These birds are great at living in water. They have webbed feet for swimming, flat bills for finding food, and special oily feathers that keep them dry.

New World Quail

Order: Galliformes – Family: Odontophoridae

The New World quails are small, round birds that live on the ground. They look and act like the quails found in other parts of the world, but they are not closely related.

Pheasants, Grouse, and Turkeys

Order: Galliformes – Family: Phasianidae

This family includes pheasants, partridges, grouse, and turkeys. These birds live on land and vary in size. Many are plump with short, wide wings. People often hunt these birds for sport or raise them for food.

Grebes

Order: Podicipediformes – Family: Podicipedidae

Podiceps-grisegena-008
Red-necked grebe

Grebes are small to medium-sized birds that dive 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

Zenaida macroura1
Mourning dove

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 and Roadrunners

Order: Cuculiformes – Family: Cuculidae

Geococcyx californianus
Greater roadrunner

This family includes cuckoos, roadrunners, and anis. These birds have different sizes, but all have slender bodies, long tails, and strong legs. Some cuckoos are known for laying their eggs in other birds' nests.

Nightjars and Allies

Order: Caprimulgiformes – Family: Caprimulgidae

Chordeiles henryi
Common nighthawk, drawn in 1859

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 help them blend in with tree bark or leaves.

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.

Hummingbirds

Order: Apodiformes – Family: Trochilidae

Archilochus-alexandri-002-edit
Black-chinned hummingbird

Hummingbirds are tiny birds famous for hovering in the air. They flap their wings so fast that they make a humming sound. They are the only birds that can fly backward!

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

Order: Gruiformes – Family: Rallidae

Fulica-americana-003
American coot

This is a large family of small to medium-sized birds. They include rails, crakes, coots, and gallinules. Most of these birds live in thick plants near lakes, swamps, or rivers. They are usually shy and hard to spot. They have strong legs and long toes, which help them walk on soft ground.

Cranes

Order: Gruiformes – Family: Gruidae

Cranes are large birds with long legs and long necks. Unlike herons, which look similar, cranes fly with their necks stretched out. Most cranes have special, loud dances they do when they are looking for a mate.

Stilts and Avocets

Order: Charadriiformes – Family: Recurvirostridae

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

Oystercatchers

Order: Charadriiformes – Family: Haematopodidae

Oystercatchers are large, easy-to-spot, and noisy birds that look a bit like plovers. They have strong bills that they use to break open or pry apart molluscs.

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 necks, and long, pointed wings. You can find them in open areas all over the world, especially near water.

Killdeer59
Killdeer

Sandpipers and Allies

Order: Charadriiformes – Family: Scolopacidae

Calidris-pusilla-001
Semipalmated sandpiper
Catoptrophorus semipalmatus edit
Willet

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 bugs they find in mud or soil. Their different leg and bill lengths allow many species to feed in the same places 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 long bills with hooked tips and webbed feet with sharp claws. They look like large, dark gulls but have a fleshy area above their upper bill. They are strong, agile fliers.

Auks, Murres, and Puffins

Order: Charadriiformes – Family: Alcidae

TuftedPuffin
Tufted puffin

Alcids look a bit like penguins because they are black and white, stand upright, and have similar habits. However, they are not closely related and can fly. Auks live in the open sea and only come to land to nest.

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

Order: Charadriiformes – Family: Laridae

Gull ca usa
Western gull

This family includes gulls, terns, and skimmers. They are medium to large seabirds, usually gray or white, often with black markings on their heads or wings. They have strong, longish bills and webbed feet.

Loons

Order: Gaviiformes – Family: Gaviidae

Loons are water birds about the size of a large duck, but they are not related to ducks. They are mostly gray or black and have bills shaped like spears. Loons are excellent swimmers and flyers, but they are very clumsy on land because their legs are at the back of their bodies.

Albatrosses

Order: Procellariiformes – Family: Diomedeidae

Albatrosses are among the largest flying birds. The biggest albatrosses have the largest wingspans of any living bird.

Southern Storm-Petrels

Oceanites oceanicusPCCA20070623-3634B
Wilson's storm-petrel

Order: Procellariiformes – Family: Oceanitidae

Storm-petrels are the smallest seabirds. They are related to petrels and eat tiny crustaceans and small fish from the ocean surface, often while hovering. They fly with quick, fluttering movements, sometimes like a bat.

Northern Storm-Petrels

Order: Procellariiformes – Family: Hydrobatidae

These storm-petrels look and act much like the southern storm-petrels. However, they have enough genetic differences that scientists place them in their own separate family.

Shearwaters and Petrels

Order: Procellariiformes – Family: Procellariidae

Eissturmvogel02
Northern fulmar

This group includes 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 bills. They have wide wingspans. Unlike other wading birds, storks do not have special feathers to clean off fish slime. Storks also cannot make sounds because they lack a voice box.

Frigatebirds

Order: Suliformes – Family: Fregatidae

Frigatebirds are large seabirds found in tropical oceans. They are usually black or black and white, with long wings and deeply forked tails. Male frigatebirds have colorful throat pouches that they 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, 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 seabirds that live near coasts. They dive headfirst into the water to catch fish.

Anhingas

Order: Suliformes – Family: Anhingidae

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

Cormorants and Shags

Phalacrocorax-auritus-007
Double-crested cormorant

Order: Suliformes – Family: Phalacrocoracidae

Cormorants are medium to large water birds, usually with dark feathers and colorful 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. They have a special pouch under their beak that they use to scoop up fish. Like other birds in their group, they have four webbed toes.

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns

Order: Pelecaniformes – Family: Ardeidae

Graureiher
Great blue heron

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, wide wings and long bodies with long legs and necks. Their bills are also long; ibises have bills that curve downward, while spoonbills have straight, flat bills.

New World Vultures

Order: Cathartiformes – Family: Cathartidae

California-condor2
California condor

New World vultures look like Old World vultures, but they are not closely related. They both eat dead animals. Unlike Old World vultures, which find food by sight, New World vultures have a good sense of smell to find carcasses.

Osprey

OspreyNASA
Osprey

Order: Accipitriformes – Family: Pandionidae

The Osprey is the only bird in its family. It is a fish-eating bird of prey. It has a very large, strong, hooked beak, powerful legs, sharp talons, and excellent eyesight.

Hawks, Eagles, and Kites

Order: Accipitriformes – Family: Accipitridae

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

Barn-Owls

Order: Strigiformes – Family: Tytonidae

Barn-owls are medium to large owls with big heads and unique heart-shaped faces. They have long, strong legs with powerful talons.

Owls

Order: Strigiformes – Family: Strigidae

Strix-varia-005
Barred owl

Typical owls are usually solitary birds of prey that are active at night. They have large eyes that face forward and good hearing. They have a hawk-like beak and a clear circle of feathers around each eye, called a facial disk.

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

Picoides-villosus-001
Hairy woodpecker

Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like beaks. They have short legs, stiff tails, and long tongues that help them catch insects. Many woodpeckers tap loudly on tree trunks with their beaks.

Falcons and Caracaras

Order: Falconiformes – Family: Falconidae

This family includes falcons and caracaras. They are birds of prey that are active during the day. Unlike hawks and eagles, falcons kill their prey with their beaks 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 things. Many parrots are brightly colored. They range in size from about 3 inches to 3 feet long. Most of the more than 150 species in this family live in the Americas.

Tyrant Flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Tyrannidae

Tyrant flycatchers are songbirds found throughout North and South America. They look a bit like Old World flycatchers but are sturdier and have stronger bills. They don't have the complex songs of other songbirds. Most are plain-looking, and they mainly eat insects.

Vireos and Allies

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Vireonidae

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

Shrikes

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Laniidae

Lanius excubitor 1 (Marek Szczepanek)
Northern shrike

Shrikes are songbirds known for catching other birds and small animals. They sometimes impale the parts they don't eat on thorns. A shrike's beak is hooked, like a bird of prey.

Crows, Jays, and Magpies

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Corvidae

Western Scrub Jay holding an Acorn at Waterfront Park in Portland, OR
California scrub-jay

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 North America. It is one of the smallest songbirds there. It is mostly gray, and adults have a bright yellow head and a reddish patch on their shoulder. Verdins eat insects and are usually found alone, looking for food in desert trees and bushes.

Tits, Chickadees, and Titmice

Poecile-atricapilla-001
Black-capped chickadee

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Paridae

The Paridae family includes 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 are known for their often fancy songs and display flights. Most larks look quite plain. They eat insects and seeds.

Swallows

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Hirundinidae

Landsvale
Barn swallow

This family of birds is built for catching food while flying. They have slender 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-shaped nests in trees. Most of them eat a mix of foods, including insects.

Kinglets

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Regulidae

Kinglets are a small family of birds that look like titmice. They are very tiny 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 birds with soft, silky feathers. They have unique red tips on some of their wing feathers that look like sealing wax, giving them their name. 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.

  • Gray silky-flycatcher, Ptiliogonys cinereus (UO)
  • Phainopepla, Phainopepla nitens

Nuthatches

Sitta-carolinensis-001
White-breasted nuthatch

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Sittidae

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

Treecreepers

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Certhiidae

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

Gnatcatchers

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Polioptilidae

These delicate birds look and act like Old World warblers. They move quickly through leaves looking for insects. Gnatcatchers are usually soft bluish-gray and have the long, sharp bill typical of insect-eating birds. Many species have distinct black patterns on their heads (especially males) and long, often upright, black-and-white tails.

Wrens

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Troglodytidae

Rock Wren
Rock wren

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

Mockingbirds and Thrashers

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Mimidae

Mimus-polyglottos-001
Northern mockingbird

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

Starlings

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Sturnidae

European starling at Bodega Head-1209
European starling at Bodega Head, California

Starlings are small to medium-sized songbirds with strong feet. They fly strongly and directly, and most live in large groups. They prefer open areas and eat insects and fruit. Many species have dark feathers with a shiny, metallic look.

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

Sialia mexicana 07094
Western bluebird

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

Old World Flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Muscicapidae

Old World flycatchers are a large family of small songbirds. They are mainly small birds that live in trees and eat insects, often catching them in mid-air.

Waxbills and Allies

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Estrildidae

The birds in this family are small songbirds from tropical parts of the Old World. They live in groups and often in colonies. They eat seeds and have short, thick, but pointed bills. They all look similar in shape and habits, but their feather colors and patterns vary widely.

Old World Sparrows

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Passeridae

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

Wagtails and Pipits

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Motacillidae

Anthus-rubescens-001
American pipit

This family includes wagtails and pipits. They are small songbirds with medium to long tails. They are slender birds that eat insects on the ground in open areas.

Finches and Allies

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Fringillidae

Cassin's Finch (male)
Cassin's finch

Finches are seed-eating songbirds that are small to medium-sized. They have strong, usually cone-shaped beaks, which can be very large in some species. All finches have twelve tail feathers and nine primary flight feathers. These birds fly with a bouncing motion, flapping their wings and then gliding with them closed. Most finches sing well.

Longspurs and Snow Buntings

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Calcariidae

This group of songbirds was once thought to be part of the New World sparrows. However, they are different in many ways and usually live in open grassy areas.

Old World Buntings

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Emberizidae

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

  • Little bunting, Emberiza pusilla (*)
  • Rustic bunting, Emberiza rustica (*)

New World Sparrows

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Passerellidae

Song sparrow in Prospect Park (93031)
Song sparrow

Until 2017, these birds were part of the Emberizidae family. Most of these birds are called sparrows, but they are not closely related to the Old World sparrows. Many of them 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 were unsure. 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 Americas. Most species have black as their main feather color, often brightened with yellow, orange, or red.

Sturnella neglecta1 (edit1)
Western meadowlark

New World Warblers

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Parulidae

Dendroica-aestiva-001
Yellow warbler
Dendroica-coronata-001
Yellow-rumped warbler

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

Cardinals and Allies

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Cardinalidae

Lazuli Bunting
Lazuli bunting

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.

See also

Images for kids

  • Canada goose flight cropped and NR

    Canada goose

  • Anas-americana-004

    American wigeon

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List of birds of California Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.