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List of birds of Guam facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
GuamRail02
Guam rail

Welcome to a list of the amazing birds found in Guam! As of August 2021, there have been 146 different types of birds seen here.

Some of these birds are very special:

  • Eight species were brought to Guam by humans.
  • 32 species are rare visitors or just pass through by accident.
  • Three species are found only in Guam (endemic). Sadly, one of these is now extinct, and two others only live in special breeding programs, with plans to bring them back to the wild.
  • Five species used to live in Guam but are now gone from the island, though they still exist elsewhere.

This list follows the bird classification from The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 2022 edition.

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

  • A (Accidental): This bird rarely visits Guam by chance.
  • End (Endemic): This bird lives only in Guam naturally.
  • E (Extinct): This bird no longer exists anywhere.
  • EW (Extinct in the wild): This bird only lives in special care, like zoos.
  • I (Introduced): Humans brought this bird to Guam.
  • Ex (Extirpated): This bird no longer lives in Guam, but it can be found elsewhere.

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

Northern-Shoveler Anas-clypeata
Northern shoveler

Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae

This family includes ducks, geese, and swans. These birds are built for water! They have webbed feet, flat bills, and oily feathers that shed water easily.

Megapodes

Micronesian megapode 6
Micronesian scrubfowl

Order: Galliformes Family: Megapodiidae

Megapodes are chunky, chicken-like birds with small heads and big feet. Most live in jungles and are brown or black.

Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies

Order: Galliformes Family: Phasianidae

This family includes quails, partridges, and pheasants. They are usually plump birds with broad, short wings.

Pigeons and Doves

White-Throated Ground-Dove wild
White-throated ground dove

Order: Columbiformes Family: Columbidae

Pigeons and doves are birds with stout bodies, short necks, and slender bills.

Cuckoos

Order: Cuculiformes Family: Cuculidae

This family includes cuckoos and roadrunners. These birds have slim bodies, long tails, and strong legs.

Swifts

Order: Caprimulgiformes Family: Apodidae

Swifts are small birds that spend most of their lives flying. They have very short legs and usually only perch on vertical surfaces. Many have long, swept-back wings.

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

Porzana cinerea - Bueng Boraphet
White-browed crake

Order: Gruiformes Family: Rallidae

This large family includes rails, crakes, and coots. They usually live in thick plants near water, like lakes or swamps. They are often shy and hard to spot. Most have strong legs and long toes for walking on soft ground. They tend to have short, rounded wings and are not strong fliers. The Guam rail was once extinct in the wild. Now, it has been brought back to Rota and Cocos Island near Guam.

Stilts and Avocets

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Recurvirostridae

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

Oystercatchers

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Haematopodidae

Oystercatchers are large, noisy birds, similar to plovers. They have strong bills that they use to open molluscs.

  • Eurasian oystercatcher, Haematopus ostralegus (A)

Plovers and Lapwings

Pluvialis fulva12
Pacific golden-plover

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Charadriidae

This family includes plovers and lapwings. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies and short, thick necks. They are found in open areas worldwide, often near water.

Sandpipers and Allies

Tringa stagnatilis
Common greenshank
Calidris alba - Laem Phak Bia
Sanderling

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Scolopacidae

This is a large family of shorebirds, including sandpipers, curlews, and snipes. 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.

Pratincoles and Coursers

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Glareolidae

Pratincoles have short legs, very long pointed wings, and long forked tails. They are unusual because they catch insects while flying, much like swallows.

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

White tern with fish
White tern

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 often gray or white with black heads. Most terns dive for fish. Many terns live a long time, some over 30 years!

Tropicbirds

White-tailed tropicbird
White-tailed tropicbird

Order: Phaethontiformes Family: Phaethontidae

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

Northern Storm-Petrels

Order: Procellariiformes Family: Hydrobatidae

These birds are related to petrels and are the smallest seabirds. They eat tiny sea creatures and small fish from the water's surface while hovering. Their flight can be fluttering, like a bat.

Shearwaters and Petrels

Order: Procellariiformes Family: Procellariidae

This group includes medium-sized "true petrels." They have nostrils that are joined together and a long outer wing feather.

Frigatebirds

Order: Suliformes Family: Fregatidae

Frigatebirds are large seabirds found over tropical oceans. They are big, black and white, or all black, with long wings and deeply forked tails. Males have colorful throat pouches that can inflate. They don't swim or walk well and can't take off from flat ground. They have the largest wingspan for 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 to large coastal seabirds that dive headfirst into the water to catch fish.

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns

Ixobrychus sinensis - Bueng Boraphet
Yellow bittern

Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Ardeidae

This family includes bitterns, herons, and egrets. Herons and egrets are medium to large wading birds with long necks and legs. Bitterns are usually shorter-necked and more cautious. When they fly, members of this family pull their necks back, unlike storks or ibises.

Osprey

Order: Accipitriformes Family: Pandionidae

This family has only one species, the osprey. The osprey is a medium-large raptor that specializes in eating fish. It can be found all over the world.

Hawks, Eagles, and Kites

Order: Accipitriformes Family: Accipitridae

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

Owls

Order: Strigiformes Family: Strigidae

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

Kingfishers

Guam Micronesian Kingfisher at Bronx Zoo-8-4c
Guam kingfisher

Order: Coraciiformes Family: Alcedinidae

Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads, long pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. There are plans to bring the Guam kingfisher back to the wild as of early 2020.

Rollers

Order: Coraciiformes Family: Coraciidae

Rollers are similar in size and shape to crows, but they are more closely related to kingfishers. They are colorful birds, mostly blue and brown.

Falcons and Caracaras

Order: Falconiformes Family: Falconidae

This family includes falcons. They are different from hawks and eagles because they kill their prey with their beaks, not their talons.

Honeyeaters

Micronesian Honey Eater
Micronesian myzomela

Order: Passeriformes Family: Meliphagidae

Honeyeaters are a large family of small to medium-sized birds. They are most common in Australia and New Guinea. They feed on nectar and look similar to other nectar-eating birds.

Fantails

Rufous Fantail
Rufous fantail

Order: Passeriformes Family: Rhipiduridae

Fantails are small birds that eat insects. They are experts at catching bugs while flying.

Drongos

Order: Passeriformes Family: Dicruridae

Drongos are mostly black or dark gray, sometimes with shiny metallic colors. They have long, forked tails. They have short legs and sit very upright when perched. They catch insects in the air or from the ground.

Monarch Flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Monarchidae

Monarch flycatchers are small to medium-sized birds that eat insects. They hunt by catching bugs in flight.

Crows, Jays, and Magpies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae

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

Reed Warblers and Allies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Acrocephalidae

This family is a group of small songbirds that eat insects. Most of them look plain, but many have unique songs.

Swallows

Order: Passeriformes Family: Hirundinidae

This family is built for catching food in the air. They have slender bodies, long pointed wings, and short bills with wide mouths. Their feet are made for perching, not walking.

White-eyes

Bridled White-Eye
Bridled white-eye

Order: Passeriformes Family: Zosteropidae

White-eyes are small birds that are mostly plain, often greenish-olive. Many species have a white ring around each eye, which is how they got their name.

  • Bridled white-eye, Zosterops conspicillatus (Ex)
  • Rota white-eye, Zosterops rotensis (End)

Starlings

Aplonis opaca
Micronesian starling

Order: Passeriformes Family: Sturnidae

Starlings are small to medium-sized songbirds. They fly strongly and directly and often gather in large groups. They prefer open areas and eat insects and fruit. Their feathers are usually dark with a metallic shine.

  • Micronesian starling, Aplonis opaca

Old World Flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Muscicapidae

The Old World flycatchers are a large family of small songbirds. These birds mainly eat insects from trees, and many catch their prey while flying.

Waxbills, Munias, and Allies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Estrildidae

The birds in this family are small songbirds from tropical parts of the Old World. They like to be in groups and often live in colonies. They eat seeds and have short, thick, pointed bills. They are similar in shape and habits but have many different feather colors and patterns.

Old World Sparrows

Passer montanus malaccensis(1)
Eurasian tree sparrow

Order: Passeriformes Family: Passeridae

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

Wagtails and Pipits

Order: Passeriformes Family: Motacillidae

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

See also

  • List of birds
  • Lists of birds by region
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List of birds of Guam Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.