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List of birds of Minnesota facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Commonloonudfs
The common loon is the state bird of Minnesota.

This article is a list of all the different types of birds that have been seen and officially recorded in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The list is put together by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union Records Committee (MOURC).

As of October 2020, there are 446 bird species on this official list. Some of these birds are:

  • Accidental (A): Birds that have been seen in Minnesota only a couple of times in the last ten years.
  • Casual (C): Birds that have been seen a few times (three to eight years) in the last ten years.
  • Introduced (I): Birds that were brought to North America by people.
  • Extinct (E): Species that no longer exist anywhere in the world.
  • Extirpated (Ex): Species that used to live regularly in Minnesota but are now gone from the state. They are not expected to come back.

This list follows the order from the Check-list of North and Middle American Birds. This list is published by the American Ornithological Society (AOS). The common and scientific names for the birds are also from this list. The names for the bird families come from the Clements taxonomy.

Most of the birds listed below live in Minnesota regularly. They might be there all year, or visit in summer, winter, or just pass through during migration.

Ducks, Geese, and Swans

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Snow goose
Wood ducks
Wood ducks
Aythya-collaris-001
Ring-necked duck
Mergus merganser m
Common merganser

Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae

This family includes ducks, geese, and swans. These birds are great at living in water. They have webbed feet to help them swim. Their bills are often flat, and their feathers are waterproof because of special oils.

New World Quail

Order: Galliformes Family: Odontophoridae

New World quails are small, round birds that live on the ground. They look like the quail from other parts of the world, but they are not closely related.

  • Northern bobwhite, Colinus virginianus (Ex) (Any recent sightings are likely birds that escaped or were set free.)

Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies

PrairieChicken
Greater prairie-chicken

Order: Galliformes Family: Phasianidae

This family includes pheasants, partridges, grouse, turkeys, and other quail. These birds live on land and vary in size. They are usually plump with wide, short wings. Many of these birds are hunted for sport or raised for food.

Grebes

ClarksGrebe23
Clark's grebe

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

Zenaida macroura1
Mourning dove

Order: Columbiformes Family: Columbidae

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

Cuckoos

Black-billed-cuckoo2
Black-billed cuckoo

Order: Cuculiformes Family: Cuculidae

This family includes cuckoos, roadrunners, and anis. These birds come in different sizes. They 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 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

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Ruby-throated hummingbird

Order: Apodiformes Family: Trochilidae

Hummingbirds are tiny birds famous for hovering in the air. They can do this because their wings beat very fast. They are the only birds that can fly backward!

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

Moorhen
Common gallinule

Order: Gruiformes Family: Rallidae

This is a large family of small to medium-sized birds. It includes rails, crakes, coots, and gallinules. These birds usually live in thick plants near lakes, swamps, or rivers. They are often shy and hard to spot. Most have strong legs and long toes, which help them walk on soft, uneven ground. They tend to have short, round wings and are not strong fliers.

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 looking for a mate.

Stilts and Avocets

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Recurvirostridae

This family includes avocets and stilts. They are large wading birds. 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 around the world, usually near water.

Sandpipers and Allies

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Greater yellowlegs
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Dunlin
Americanwoodcock
American woodcock

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Scolopacidae

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

Skuas and Jaegers

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Parasitic jaeger

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Stercorariidae

Skuas and jaegers are related to gulls and shorebirds. The three jaeger species have long central tail feathers when they are adults. They also often have white on their undersides and pale yellow on their necks.

Auks, Murres, and Puffins

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Alcidae

Alcids look a bit like penguins because they are black and white and stand upright. However, they are not closely related and can fly! Auks live in the open sea and only come to land to nest. This family also includes murres and puffins.

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

Larus philadelphia1
Bonaparte's gull
Havstrut aka Larus marinus aka Great black-backed gull
Great black-backed gull
Sterna caspiaPCCA20031225-0908B
Caspian tern

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Laridae

Laridae is a family of medium to large seabirds. It includes gulls, terns, kittiwakes, and skimmers. They are usually gray or white, often with black marks on their heads or wings. They have strong, somewhat long bills and webbed feet.

Loons

RedthroatedLoon23
Red-throated loon

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 swim very well and fly well too. However, they are almost helpless on land because their legs are placed far back on their bodies.

Shearwaters and Petrels

Northern Fulmar
Northern fulmar

Order: Procellariiformes Family: Procellariidae

These are medium-sized "true petrels." They have nostrils that are joined together and a long outer primary feather that works well for flying.

Storks

Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ciconiidae

Storks are large, heavy wading birds with long legs, long necks, and strong bills. They have wide wings. Unlike other wading birds, storks do not have a special powder to clean off fish slime. Storks also cannot make sounds because they do not have a voice box.

Frigatebirds

Order: Suliformes Family: Fregatidae

Frigatebirds are large seabirds usually found over warm, tropical oceans. They are 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 they cannot take off from a flat surface. They have the largest wingspan for their body weight of any bird, meaning they are built for flying and can stay in the air for over a week!

Cormorants and Shags

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Double-crested cormorant

Order: Suliformes Family: Phalacrocoracidae

Cormorants are medium to large water birds. They usually have mostly 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. Like other birds in their group, they have four webbed toes.

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns

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Green heron

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 usually 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. Their bodies are usually long, and their necks are even longer, with fairly long legs. Their bills are also long. Ibises have bills that curve downwards, while spoonbills have straight, flat bills that look like spoons.

New World Vultures

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Turkey vulture

Order: Cathartiformes Family: Cathartidae

New World vultures look like the vultures from other parts of the world, but they are not closely related. They look similar because they both evolved to be scavengers, meaning they eat dead animals. Unlike other vultures, New World vultures have a good sense of smell to find food.

Osprey

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Osprey

Order: Accipitriformes Family: Pandionidae

The Osprey family has only one type of bird. Ospreys are birds of prey that eat fish. They have a very large, strong, hooked beak to tear meat from their prey. They also have strong legs, powerful claws (talons), and excellent eyesight.

Hawks, Eagles, and Kites

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Broad-winged hawk

Order: Accipitriformes Family: Accipitridae

This family includes hawks, eagles, kites, harriers, and Old World vultures. These birds of prey have very large, strong, hooked beaks for tearing meat. They also have strong legs, powerful talons, and sharp eyesight.

Barn-Owls

Order: Strigiformes Family: Tytonidae

Barn-owls are medium to large owls. They have big heads and a special heart-shaped face. They also have long, strong legs with powerful talons.

Owls

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Snowy owl

Order: Strigiformes Family: Strigidae

The typical owls are birds of prey that hunt alone at night. They can be small to large in size. They have large eyes that face forward and big ears. 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. They have large heads, long, pointed bills, short legs, and short tails.

Woodpeckers

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Black-backed woodpecker

Order: Piciformes Family: Picidae

Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds. They have bills that are like chisels, short legs, stiff tails, and long tongues. They use their tongues to catch insects. Some woodpeckers have two toes pointing forward and two backward. Many woodpeckers tap loudly on tree trunks with their beaks.

Falcons and Caracaras

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American kestrel

Order: Falconiformes Family: Falconidae

This family includes falcons and caracaras. They are birds of prey that hunt during the day. They are different from hawks and eagles because they kill their prey with their beaks, not their talons (claws).

Tyrant Flycatchers

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Yellow-bellied flycatcher

Order: Passeriformes Family: Tyrannidae

Tyrant flycatchers are songbirds found across North and South America. They look a bit like flycatchers from other parts of the world, but they are stronger and have tougher bills. They don't have very complex songs. Most of them are plain in color. As their name suggests, most of them eat insects.

Vireos and Allies

Vireo bellii1
Bell's vireo

Order: Passeriformes Family: Vireonidae

The vireos are a group of small to medium-sized songbirds. They are usually greenish and look like wood warblers, but they have stronger bills.

Shrikes

Order: Passeriformes Family: Laniidae

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

Crows, Jays, and Magpies

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Black-billed magpie

Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae

The family Corvidae includes crows, ravens, jays, choughs, magpies, and nutcrackers. Corvids are larger than average songbirds. Some of the bigger species are very smart.

Tits, Chickadees, and Titmice

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Tufted titmouse

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 special flights they do to show off. Most larks look quite plain. They eat insects and seeds.

Swallows

Cliff Swallow Santa Cruz
Cliff swallow

Order: Passeriformes Family: Hirundinidae

The family Hirundinidae is a group of songbirds that are good at catching food while flying. They have slender, streamlined bodies, long, pointed wings, and short bills with wide mouths. Their feet are made for perching, not walking.

Kinglets

Order: Passeriformes Family: Regulidae

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

Waxwings

Bombycilla garrulusII
Bohemian waxwing

Order: Passeriformes Family: Bombycillidae

The waxwings are a group of birds with soft, silky feathers. They have unique red tips on some of their wing feathers. These tips look like sealing wax, which gives them their name. These birds live in northern forests. They eat insects in the summer and berries in the winter.

Nuthatches

Sitta canadensis
Red-breasted nuthatch

Order: Passeriformes Family: Sittidae

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

Treecreepers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Certhiidae

Treecreepers are small woodland birds. They are brown on top and white underneath. They have thin, pointed, downward-curved bills. They use these bills 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 and act like Old World warblers. They move quickly through leaves looking for insects. Gnatcatchers are mostly soft bluish-gray. They have the typical long, sharp bill of an insect-eating bird. Many species have distinct black patterns on their heads, especially males. They also have long, black and white tails that they often hold upright.

Wrens

SedgeWren23
Sedge wren

Order: Passeriformes Family: Troglodytidae

Wrens are small birds that are 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

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Northern mockingbird

Order: Passeriformes Family: Mimidae

The mimids are a family of songbirds. This family includes thrashers, mockingbirds, and New World catbirds. These birds are known for their amazing voices. They can copy many different bird calls and other sounds they hear outside. These species usually have dull gray and brown feathers.

Starlings

Order: Passeriformes Family: Sturnidae

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

Dippers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Cinclidae

Dippers are birds named for their bobbing or dipping movements. They usually live along fast-moving rivers in hillsides, though some nest near shallow lakes.

Thrushes and Allies

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Eastern bluebird

Order: Passeriformes Family: Turdidae

The thrushes are a group of songbirds. They are plump, with soft feathers, and are small to medium-sized. They eat insects or sometimes a mix of insects and other foods. They often feed on the ground. Many thrushes have beautiful songs.

American robin, Turdus migratorius

Old World Flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Muscicapidae

This is a large family of small songbirds found only in the Old World. The species listed below are only seen in North America by accident. These birds look very different from each other, but most have weak songs and harsh calls.

Old World Sparrows

Order: Passeriformes Family: Passeridae

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

Wagtails and Pipits

Order: Passeriformes Family: Motacillidae

The Motacillidae are a family of small songbirds with medium to long tails. They include wagtails and pipits. They are slender birds that eat insects from the ground in open areas.

Finches, Euphonias, and Allies

Purple Finch
Purple finch
Carduelis pinus
Pine siskin

Order: Passeriformes Family: Fringillidae

Finches are songbirds that eat seeds. They are small to medium-large and have strong beaks, usually shaped like cones. All finches have twelve tail feathers and nine primary flight feathers. These birds fly in a bouncy way, flapping their wings and then gliding with them closed. Most of them sing well.

Longspurs and Snow Buntings

Order: Passeriformes Family: Calcariidae

The Calcariidae are a group of songbirds. They used to be grouped with the New World sparrows. However, they are different in many ways and are usually found in open grassy areas.

New World Sparrows

Eastern Towhee-27527-3
Eastern towhee
LarkSparrow23
Lark sparrow
Song sparrow in Prospect Park (93031)
Song sparrow

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 used to be placed with the wood-warblers, but experts were not sure if it truly belonged there. In 2017, it was given its own family.

Troupials and Allies

Dolichonyx oryzivorus1
Bobolink
OrchardOriole23
Orchard oriole

Order: Passeriformes Family: Icteridae

The icterids are a group of small to medium-sized songbirds. They are often colorful and are found only in the New World. This family includes grackles, New World blackbirds, and New World orioles. Most species have black as their main feather color, often with bright yellow, orange, or red.

New World Warblers

Dendroica-fusca-001
Blackburnian warbler
Setophaga ruticilla
American redstart
Commonyellowthroat159
Common yellowthroat
Wilsonswarbler34
Wilson's warbler

Order: Passeriformes Family: Parulidae

The wood-warblers are a group of small, often colorful songbirds found only in the New World. Most live in trees, but some, like the ovenbird and the two waterthrushes, spend more time on the ground. Most birds in this family eat insects.

Cardinals and Allies

RosebreastedGrosbeak23
Rose-breasted grosbeak

Order: Passeriformes Family: Cardinalidae

The Cardinalidae are a family of strong, seed-eating birds with powerful bills. They usually live in open woodlands. Males and females often have different feather colors.

See also

  • List of birds
  • Lists of birds by region
  • List of birds of North America
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List of birds of Minnesota Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.