Common Loon

Order: Gaviiformes

Family: Gaviidae

(head, neck, back, wings, and sides black, conspicuously marked on scapulars and wing-coverts with relatively large, rectangular white markings; broad patch of vertical white stripes on side of neck; much smaller patch of stripes on upper foreneck; breast and belly white; bill black)

Pied-billed Grebe

Order: Podicipediformes

Family: Podicipedidae

(Dark brownish upperparts and grayish buff sides of neck and flanks. Well-defined black throat-patch has whitish outline, usually better defined in males, and black extends up on anterior malar region. High, short bill (often erroneously referred to as “chickenlike”) is laterally compressed and decurved at tip, forming slight hook. Bill bluish white, with distinct black vertical bar. Bluish white loral area and orbital rings. Tail-feathers appear pointed, short and wispy, though relatively longer than in most other grebes. Undertail-coverts white. Belly and underwing whitish. Iris dark (brown) in all ages.)

Western Grebe

Order: Podicipediformes

Family: Podicipedidae

(Large (55–75 cm long; 800–1,800 g), black, sooty, and white grebe with a narrow body, long neck, and long, sharply pointed bill. Distinguished from Clark’s Grebe by the yellowish green bill and by the black of crown extending below bright red eyes. White in wing variable in extent, never in a well-defined patch. Crest triangular, black, raised and spread laterally in display.)

Clark's Grebe

Order: Podicipediformes

Family: Podicipedidae

(Similar to the Western Grebe, but differs in having an orange yellow bill with a more sharply defined black culmen. In breeding plumage, white of sides of head extends above eyes, and lores white. Some wintering birds show intermediacy in plumage of the head, especially on lores)

American White Pelican

Order: Pelecaniformes

Family: Pelecanidae

(Unmistakable. Large white bird with black primaries and outer secondaries, enormous bill with distensible gular pouch, and totipalmate webbed feet. Usually in flocks, flies with head withdrawn.)

Double-crested Comorant

Order: Pelicaniformes

Family: Phalacrocoracidae

(Adults have black or dark-brown plumage, with a dull greenish or bronze gloss that may be absent from worn feathers. The orange-yellow skin of face and throat (gular region) is distinctive throughout year. The “double crest” is a poor field mark; these feathers are variable and are fully developed for only a short time early in year.)

Great Blue Heron

Order: Ciconiiformes

Family: Ardeidae

(Legs and neck long. Adults have long body and occipital plumes, shorter in immatures, absent in juveniles. Middle toe has a small comb (pectinate); wings are long and rounded; bill is long and tapered, tail is short. In flight, folds its neck in a S-shape and extends its legs along the body axis. It flies with deep, slow wingbeats.)

Snowy Egret

Order: Ciconiiformes

Family: Ardeidae

Entirely white plumage; long, slender black bill; bright yellow bare skin in lores; and long, comparatively slender, black legs, with bright yellow feet. At height of breeding, lores and feet become much richer in color, tending toward reddish and orangish, respectively.)

American Bittern

Order: Ciconiiformes

Family: Ardeidae

Brown, medium-sized heron, with a stout body and neck and relatively short legs. Adult plumage all brown above (finely flecked with black) and heavily streaked in brown and white below. Crown rusty brown. A long, black patch extends from below the eye down the side of the neck, a characteristic unique among herons. Throat white. Remiges dark brown and contrast strongly with the paler brown of the body. 

White-faced Ibis

Order: Ciconiiformes

Family: Threskiornithidae

(Medium-sized wading bird, dark maroon brown with long neck, long, decurved bill, and long legs. Bill, legs, and toes blackish. Head, neck, upper back, wing coverts, and undersides dark chestnut-maroon with metallic green and bronze sheen. Wings with purplish overtones. Bare facial skin becomes reddish purple. Iris reddish brown.)

Greater White-fronted Goose

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

(Compact, gray-brown goose, generally smaller than Lesser Snow Goose. Easily recognized as only gray-brown goose with pinkish bill and orange feet; gives melodious, laughlike call.)

Snow Goose

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

(Adult white morph, completely white except for gray primary-coverts and black primaries; occasionally rusty-orange staining on head and upper neck (result of digging or grubbing in sediment or mud containing iron oxides). Feet and legs dark pink; bill rose-pink with pale-pink or white nail.)

Canada Goose

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

Trumpeter Swan

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

Gadwall

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

dabbling duck

(Alternate plumaged male generally gray brown with white abdomen, black rump and undertail-coverts, white speculum, black and chestnut portions of some inner median and lesser wing-coverts, slate gray bill, and yellow legs. Head and neck noticeably lighter-colored than breast, back, and wings. Combination of fairly uniform grayish-brown plumage with black rump and undertail-coverts (and white speculum, which is most visible when bird is in flight) easily distinguishes male from all other North American duck species.)

American Wigeon

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

dabbling duck

(Forehead and crown white; broad dark green patch surrounding eye passing to nape; rest of head and upper neck buffy white heavily speckled with black; breast, sides, and flanks pinkish brown contrasting with white belly and sides of rump; scapulars and back pinkish brown, finely vermiculated with black; undertail-coverts black, uppertail-coverts grayish, finely barred blackish; upperwing-coverts white forming large white patch on open wing, speculum dark iridescent green bordered by black. Bill bluish gray with black tip.)

Mallard (male)

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

dabbling duck

(Dark-green head, narrow white neck-ring, chestnut-brown breast, brownish-gray upperparts, grayish underparts, black rump and under tail-coverts, white outer tail-feathers and strongly recurved black central tail-feathers; upper wing has iridescent blue to violet-blue speculum (upperside of secondaries) bordered with white line at leading edge (tips of greater coverts) and trailing edge (tips of secondaries); under wing-coverts white contrasting with pale gray underside of remiges; bill yellow to olive; legs and feet red.)

Mallard (female)

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

dabbling duck

(Broken streaky pattern of buff, white, gray, or black on brown feathers, white outer tail-feathers, contrastingly pale (whitish mottled) belly and under tail-coverts, and prominent dark eyeline; upperwing and underwing similar to male, although female typically shows white line at leading edge of speculum extending onto greater tertial-coverts; bill orange, variably splotched with black; feet and legs orange-red.)

Blue-winged Teal

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

dabbling duck

(All plumages show a large chalky blue patch on upper wing. Grayish head with large white crescent in front of eye bordering base of bill; cinnamon-buffy underparts densely spotted with black; green speculum; bold white rear border to blue wing-patch; rounded white patch on rear flank behind legs; and orange legs and feet.)

Cinnamon Teal

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

dabbling duck

(Small, trim dabbling duck. Bright blue upperwing-coverts in both sexes; wing linings mostly white. Male in Alternate plumage readily identified by bright rusty or chestnut plumage on head, neck, and underparts)

Green-winged Teal

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

dabbling duck

(Head cinnamon with an iridescent green crescent running through the eye to a small crest at the back. Breast pinkish with small black spots.)

Northern Pintail

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

dabbling duck

(Definitive Alternate male readily distinguished from other North American ducks by combination of chocolate brown head, white neck and underparts, and very long central rectrices, although rectrices may not obtain full length until late fall.)

Northern Shoveler

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

dabbling duck

(Pronounced bill morphology distinguishes this species from other North American waterfowl: elongated bill, widened distally and spatulate with a conspicuous series of comblike lamellae along lateral edge.)

Wood Duck

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

dabbling duck

(Distinctive facial pattern (iridescent green and purple head; white throat with fingerlike extensions onto cheek and neck; red eye; long green, purple, and white crest; and burgundy breast) and overall colorful plumage.)

Canvasback

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

diving duck

(In profile, thin wedge-shaped head sloping upward from tip of long bill to back of crown and long, stout neck, with head held erect, are distinctive among waterfowl breeding in North America.)

Redhead

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

diving duck

(Rufous head and neck (may simply appear dark from a distance), black breast, gray body, black hindquarters (upper and under tail-coverts), yellowish eye, and blue-gray bill with black tip and white subterminal band.)

Ring-necked Duck

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

diving duck

(distinguished by peaked, angular head profile, blackish upperparts contrasting with white spur, triangular vertical bar along anterior flanks in front of folded wing, distinctive white bill markings, and uniformly dark upper wings.)

Lesser Scaup

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

diving duck

(Slaty blue bill; black head with purplish gloss; black neck, breast, and upper mantle; white flanks and belly; gray-flecked lower mantle; and black vent and undertail region.)

Bufflehead (male)

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

diving duck

(Head black, glossed green and purple, with large white patch from ear-coverts across nape; back black; white underparts; wings black, with large white patch occupying most of secondaries and coverts.)

Bufflehead (female)

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

diving duck

(Dark brown on head, back, and wings; pale gray on underparts. They show a white ear patch and a smaller white wing patch than males)

Common Goldeneye

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

diving duck

(Striking pattern of iridescent greenish-black head with bright, oval white patch at hind base of bill; brilliant white sides, breast, belly, and secondaries contrast with black back, wings, and tail.)

Hooded Merganser

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

diving duck

(Serrated bill, flashy white, fan-shaped crest bordered by black, and buffy sides with black and white vertical stripes. When crest is depressed, a white line extends back from the eye)

Common Merganser

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

diving duck

(Serrated bill, iridescent, greenish-black head, brilliant white neck, underparts, and secondaries contrasting against black upper wings, gray back and tail, and long narrow scarlet-orange bill)

Ruddy Duck

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

diving duck

(Bright, sky-blue bill, white cheeks, glossy black cap and nape, bright reddish-chestnut upper body (including sides and flanks), and silvery-white belly (tips of feathers, the darker bases showing through); dark-brownish tail often carried in upright posture; wings blackish brown with no speculum color; under wing-coverts whitish.)

Osprey

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Accipitridae

(Large, long-winged raptor with dark chocolate-brown back and upper wing-coverts, mostly white breast (some speckling) and belly, white crown and forehead, and dark line through eye. Iris yellow. Cere and legs pale blue-gray.)

Bald Eagle

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Accipitidae

(White head, tail, and upper- and lowertail-coverts; dark brown body and wings; and yellow iris, beak, cere, leg, and foot.)

Golden Eagle (juvenal)

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Accipitidae

(Juvenal plumage distinguished from adults by much darker (unfaded) color, and by white at base of secondaries and inner primaries. These white areas form a white “window” at carpal joint of wing, visible in flight from above and below. Occasionally some upper wing-coverts also white. Amount of white varies individually, and a few juveniles lack white on wing entirely. Rectrices have wide, black band at tip with narrow, white terminal band. White terminal band wears away quickly as feathers age. Basal two-thirds of tail is usually white, although some dark flecks, particularly near the dark band, may occur. Amount of white in tail and wing gradually diminishes with each progressive molt.

Golden Eagle (adult)

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Accipitidae

entirely dark brown except for golden rear crown, nape, and sides of neck; gray bars on tail; and rear underparts and upper wing-coverts often paler than rest of feathers, the latter forming a tawny diagonal bar on upper wing; visible both on flying and perched birds.

Northern Harrier (male)

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Accipitidae

(Gray above, mostly white below, and with black wing-tips and tips to secondaries)

Northern Harrier (female)

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Accipitidae

(Brown above and buffy with brown streaks below)

Sharp-shinned Hawk (juvenal)

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Accipitidae

Genus: Accipiter

(Smallest North American accipiter. Square tail. Head heavily streaked grayish brown and white or grayish brown and tawny on crown, nape, and sides of neck, with a pale superciliary stripe. Back, rump, and wings dark brown to dark brownish gray, with back and wing-coverts margined paler. Occasional white feather bases show on back and wing-coverts. Underwing white and boldly barred with dark brown. Tail as in adults but gray often replaced by brownish. Underparts white to cream with broad dark-brown streaking on breast, belly, side, and flanks. Eyes pale yellow.)

Sharp-shinned Hawk (definitive)

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Accipitidae

Genus: Accipiter

(Smallest North American accipiter. bluish gray to slate, becoming slightly darker on the crown. Tail crossed by 3–5 visible slaty bands and narrowly tipped white. Tail usually appears square in shape when folded, but often appears slightly rounded when spread. Open wing appears dark above but whitish below with remiges boldly banded with black. Underparts primarily whitish and heavily barred with rufous or tawny on breast, belly, side, and flanks.)

Cooper's Hawk (definitive)

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Accipitidae

Genus: Accipiter

(Medium-sized hawk with short, rounded wings and long, rounded tail. Legs yellow; iris yellow in younger birds, orange or red in older birds. Back and upper wing coverts brown to blue-gray in adults.)

Cooper's Hawk (juvenal)

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Accipitidae

Genus: Accipiter

(Back and upper wing coverts medium brown with some white mottling and rufous feather edging. Brown tail bands in immatures. Tail white-tipped.)

Northern Goshawk (juvenal)

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Accipitidae

Genus: Accipiter

(Juvenile Goshawk differs from juvenile Cooper’s Hawk in having more conspicuous pale superciliary line, more heavily streaked belly-, underwing-, and undertail-coverts, slightly wedge-shaped tail, and tawny bar across upperwing. Subtle pattern of fine white lines outline dark bands on upperside of juvenile Goshawk’s tail, which, when spread, shows staggered dark bars in zigzag pattern rather than even banding of juvenile Cooper’s Hawk.)

Northern Goshawk (definitive)

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Accipitidae

Genus: Accipiter

(Among North American accipiters, largest and heaviest bodied, appearing deep-chested with relatively broad wings and relatively short tail; wings appear tapered when soaring and pointed when flapping or stooping. Clearly larger than Sharp-shinned Hawk; in flight, head protrudes more on Goshawk, and tail broader and more rounded at tip.)

Swainson's Hawk

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Accipitidae

Genus: Buteo

(Compared to other North American buteos, overall appearance slimmer, with thinner body and narrower wings. Dark flight-feathers contrast with paler wing-linings (pale morphs); long wings tapered, pointed, and in perched birds reach or barely exceed tip of tail. Tail grayish to grayish brown with numerous narrow, dark bands; subterminal band widest, and tip of tail white to buffy in fresh plumage. Tail slightly lighter toward base; combined with white barring on uppertail-coverts, can make base of tail appear whitish, especially in flight. Pale morph birds show dark breast-band, or “bib,” between lighter belly and chin; light- to intermediate morphs show pale forehead when viewed at extremely close range. Dorsal surface relatively evenly colored compared with most other buteos.)

Red-tailed Hawk

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Accipitidae

Genus: Buteo

(Stout-bodied, broad-winged hawk. Resembles other buteos in general size and shape, but adults may be distinguished from other North American buteos by the uniformly reddish (dorsally) tail with a narrow, dark subterminal band and, in light phase birds, the presence of dark, rectangular markings along the leading edge of the patagium.)

Ferruginous Hawk

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Accipitidae

Genus: Buteo

(Large, massive, broad-winged hawk with large head, wide gape, and robust chest. Light-morph adults can be distinguished from other North American buteos by white or gray tail and nearly white underparts, broken only by sparse rufous or gray specks on belly and the characteristic rufous V formed by the dark legs and tarsi held under the rump in flight. Underwing-coverts are faintly speckled. From above, head is whiter than that of most hawks, with back and shoulders rufous and a noticeable white area or “window” in widely extended primaries. Toes, cere, and mandible margins yellow.)

American Kestrel (male)

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Falconidae

(Male has blue-gray wings, tail mostly unbarred except for a black subterminal band and white to rufous tip. Underparts pale buff to pinkish or orange; amount of streaking and spotting highly variable.)

American Kestrel (female)

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Falconidae

(Female has rufous wings barred with black; tail also rufous with black bands along entire length. Underparts creamy to buff, heavily streaked with brown.)

Peregrine Falcon

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Falconidae

(Medium to large falcon. Adult with bluish-gray upperparts (becoming more blackish on head), variable-width blackish facial stripe extending down from eye across malar, this stripe usually set off by pale auriculars or “cheek,” but pattern sometimes obscured if cheek all dark; underparts whitish, grayish, or buffy with variable amount of blackish spotting and barring; under wing and under tail surfaces barred pale gray and black. Immature similar but upperparts vary from pale to slate or chocolate brown and underparts buffy with blackish streaks (vs. bars).)

Prairie Falcon

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Falconidae

(Distinguished from similar falcons from below by dark, triangular patches on inner core of the pale wings)

Turkey Vulture

Order: Falconiformes

Family: Cathartidae

(Entirely blackish brown, except ventral surfaces of remiges appear silver gray, contrasting with darker underwing-coverts. Head largely unfeathered and red; appears small in flight. Bill ivory-colored, relatively short, and hooked, with prominent, perforate nares.)

Ring-necked Pheasant

Order: Galliformes

Family: Phasianidae

(Olive crown, often bordered at sides by white eyebrows and feathers on sides of occiput, immediately above auricular region, elongated to form hornlike or earlike tufts; iridescent purplish head and neck; red orbital region more or less bare; white collar; maroon breast, tending toward orange on flanks; golden-yellow mantle; gray rump, with olive or blue tinge and green gloss; pale tail with broad, black bars; pale-gray upper wing-coverts; large, round, subterminal pale-buff marks on scapulars; narrow breast-feathers with deep indentation and narrow, dark edging; yellowish flanks that contrast with dark breast and belly; and conical spur a little below middle of tarsi. Long tail , flat or slightly compressed, excessively graduated, rectrices tapering toward acuminate or subacuminate tips; always with transverse markings.)

Greater Sage Grouse

Order: Galliformes

Family: Phasianidae

(Fuscous upperparts, profusely marked with drab gray and white; tail long and pointed; primaries plain brown; chin and throat sepia; sides of neck, breast, and upper belly whitish and slightly distended, forming a ruff; belly and undertail-coverts sepia, with large white spots on tips of undertail-coverts; thighs buff. Head has yellow fleshy comb above eye, and long filoplumes that arise from back of the neck. During courtship displays, tail fanned and breast distended, exposing 2 yellow ocher patches of bare skin on lower throat and breast. These apteria briefly exposed during the display, appearing as round balloons.)

White-tailed Ptarmigan (alternate)

Order: Galliformes

Family: Phasianidae

(The only species of grouse with white rectrices. Cryptic plumage that changes annually from white in winter to grayish brown in summer. Sexes similar in body size, shape, and winter plumage.)

White-tailed Ptarmigan (basic)

Order: Galliformes

Family: Phasianidae

(Breeding season males have a conspicuous ‘necklace’ of coarsely barred brown and black breast feathers; females predominantly brown and black with yellow barrings.)

Dusky Grouse (Blue Grouse)

Order: Galliformes

Family: Phasianidae

(Males have highly specialized lateral cervical apteria (bare neck patches) that are exposed during display. The only grouse in which supercilliary apteria (‘combs’) of males change color from yellow (basic color) to red during courtship display. Legs feathered to base of toes, with short feathers on small webs between toes 2 and 4.)

Greater Prairie Chicken

Order: Galliformes

Family: Phasianidae

(Longer feathers (pinnates) on sides of neck. In males, the pinnates are erected during display, revealing bright yellowy-orange esophageal air sacs on the side of their neck during the breeding season.)

Virginia Rail

Order: Gruiiformes

Family: Rallidae

(Small, laterally compressed, reddish bird with gray cheeks and a long, slightly decurved bill. Wings chestnut-colored. Legs and bill reddish, flanks banded black and white.)

American Coot

Order: Gruiiformes

Family: Rallidae

(Adult head and neck black, contrasting sharply with white bill and more subtly with dark, slate-gray upperparts and dark, ashy-gray underparts; lateral under tail-coverts white. An olive-brown wash sometimes visible, especially on lower back, and pale, whitish tips to feathers of lower breast and belly visible on fresh Basic-plumage individuals. Wings show white trailing edges to secondaries, usually only seen in flight.)

Sandhill Crane

Order: Gruiiformes

Family: Gruidae

(Ten primaries and 16 secondaries; innermost secondary coverts and tertials elongate, ornamental, drooping over tail. Tail has 12 comparatively short rectrices. Foot anisodactic; hallux elevated and functionally vestigial. Bill elongated and stout. Internasal septum perforate. Bare papillos skin, sparsely covered with black hairlike bristles, extends from base of bill above the eyes to back of head, encompassing forehead, lores, and crown. White cheek contrasts with gray neck.)

American Avocet

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Recuvirostridae

(Distinguished by strikingly contrasted black-and-white upperparts, white underparts, either rusty or gray head and neck, long upturned bill, large size, and long, grayish blue legs. Wings and back black; contrasting white on outer scapulars, parts of secondaries, and wing-coverts, forming chevron pattern in flight.)

Black-necked Stilt

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Recuvirostridae

(Upper portion of head, back of neck, back, and wings shiny black, spot above eye and remaining plumage white except tail, which is sepia to pale gray, and a pink tinge to the upper breast. Iris red. Bill black and very slightly recurved. Extremely long red legs, half web between middle and outer toe, hallux lacking.)

Greater Yellowlegs

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Scolopacidae

(Very similar in all plumages to Lesser Yellowlegs, but latter is much smaller (approximately half the mass) and daintier, and has a straighter, thinner, and proportionately shorter bill (relative to head length). In Alternate plumage, dark barring on underparts is more extensive and heavier.)

Lesser Yellowlegs

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Scolopacidae

(Often confused with Greater Yellowlegs but about 25–30% smaller in total length and has a thin, straight bill that is only slightly longer than head. Greater’s bill is thick at the base, often perceptibly upturned, and about 1.5 × head length. Also, Lesser’s bill is dark in all seasons, in contrast to Greater’s, which is often two-toned (grayish at base) in nonbreeding birds. In Alternate plumage, markings on Lesser’s breast and flanks are sparse relative to Greater’s heavily barred and spotted underparts.)

Spotted Sandpiper

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Scolopacidae

(Alternate plumage brownish to olive gray above, white below with bold black spotting.)

Least Sandpiper

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Scolopacidae

(Small sandpiper. Neck short, bill short and thin, legs usually yellowish green; wings shortest of all stints, barely extending beyond tail.)

Long-billed Dowitcher

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Scolopacidae

(Slightly decurved bill black but becoming olive at base, widened laterally near the ridged tip; iris brown; legs and feet yellowish olive. Crown and upperparts variegated with brown, black, and buff markings, while most underparts rufous with dark barring tipped white in fresh plumage; underparts quickly become darker and more uniform with wear)

Wilson's Snipe

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Scolopacidae

(Crown striped with black and buffy, upperparts a mixture of brown, black, and gray, forming spots and barring; light-colored spots tend to form 4 lines running down the back; tail appears russet. Underparts mostly white, but neck and breast heavily streaked or spotted with brown.)

Wilson's Phalarope (male)

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Scolopacidae

(Small, aquatic sandpiper with toes bordered by narrow fleshy fringe, needle-like bill, white underparts and rump.Breeding males are smaller and generally less brightly plumaged than females, with considerable individual variability; legs and bill as in female.)

Wilson's Phalarope (female)

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Scolopacidae

(Females possess pale blue gray forehead and crown; white supercilium borders black streak that passes from lores, through and below the eye, down sides of neck; white streak trails from back of head, down nape to upper back; throat cinnamon buff; chestnut scapulars and mantle; wings gray brown and underparts and rump white; tail pale grayish; bill black, legs grayish to black.)

Killdeer

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Charadriidae

(Killdeer superficially resembles other species of ringed plovers, but it is easily distinguished from these by presence of 2 (not 1) black bands across breast)

Mountain Plover

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Charadriidae

(Upperparts fairly uniform sandy brown, with this coloration extending along side of neck, ear-coverts, and onto chest. Forehead, throat, and breast white, extending into longish supercilium; underwings bright white. Distinctive black loral stripe extending from black bill to eye, giving appearance of all 3 being one structure; forecrown mottled black to solid black. Flanks on some breeding birds rufous.)

Semipalmated Plover

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Charadriidae

(upperparts medium brown; underparts white, with white collar around neck, bordered posteriorly by single black breast-band that extends around neck; forehead white; forecrown and sides of head black; and narrow postocular stripe white. Wings and tail dark, with single narrow white stripe on wing along base of remiges. Bill short and stubby; legs short. Bill black, with yellow to orange base; legs dull yellow to orange; bare skin around eye yellow to orange, producing narrow eye-ring)

Ring-billed Gull

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Laridae

Forster's Tern

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Laridae

(Immaculate white with black cap, pale gray wings and mantle, pale silvery gray flight feathers; deeply forked tail; orange legs and variably black-tipped orange bill. Cap barely reaches eye and often shows bulge below eye and ear-coverts. Tail light gray with contrasting white outer margin of outer tail-feathers; white rump contrasts with pale gray of back, but not strikingly so.)

Rock Pigeon

Order: Columbiformes

Family: Columbidae

(Medium-sized pigeon. Bill dark gray; under wing coverts white; tail with blue-black subterminal band; outer rectrix white on proximal 2/3 of outer vane; rump gray or white. Wings usually with two dark bars on greater coverts and inner secondaries. Basic color bluish gray in most, bluish black in some, rusty red in a few, and a fraction mostly white or grizzled; many with albinotic feathers almost anywhere.)

Mourning Dove

Order: Columbiformes

Family: Columbidae

(Color grayish blue or grayish brown above, buffy below. Black spots on wing coverts and behind eye. Wing and tail feathers gray except for black-bordered white tips on tail. Delicate, black bill; dull red legs and feet. Eyes dark brown bordered by bluish skin.)

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Order: Columbiformes

Family: Columbidae

(Distinguished from Mourning dove by black collar and squared tail.)

Barn Owl

Order: Strigiformes

Family: Tytonidae

(Medium-sized owl. Head appears big (especially in flight) and lacks ear tufts. Facial ruff complete and conspicuous, markedly heart shaped. Eyes dark and relatively small for an owl. Wings long and rounded.)

Eastern Screech Owl

Order: Strigiformes

Family: Strigidae

(Small "horned" owl. Sexes alike in having gray or rufous (dimorphic) plumage with some brownish intermediates. In most of range, small body size and conspicuous ear tufts in cryptic “stick” posture are distinctive. No other North American owl has the combination of contrasting gray and rufous morphs, bold breast markings, yellowish beak and eyes, proportionately large feet, feathered toes.)

Great Horned Owl

Order: Strigiformes

Family: Strigidae

(The only large and heavy North American owl with ear-tufts, a white bib, and enormous yellow eyes.)

Burrowing Owl

Order: Strigiformes

Family: Strigidae

(Small, ground-dwelling owl. Legs long and sparsely feathered below tibiotarsal joint. Head round, lacking eartufts. Distinct oval facial ruff, framed by a broad, buffy-white eyebrow-to-malar stripe on the interior part. Iris usually bright, lemon yellow.)

Short-eared Owl

Order: Strigiformes

Family: Strigidae

(Adult plumage dorsally mottled brown and buff, resembles dried grasses. Ventrally, whitish to rust colored with dense vertical streaking on breast, thinning out on sides and flanks. Face large and facial ruff round during normal posture. Facial disk gray/white, orbits black, eyes yellow, bill black.)

Common Nighthawk

Order: Caprimulgiformes

Family: Caprimulgidae

(Has large, flattened head with large eyes; small bill and enormous mouth, lacking rictal bristles; long, slender wings which at rest extend slightly beyond a notched tail; white patch across primaries; and pronounced barring on abdomen and sides.)

Chimney Swift

Order: Apodiformes

Family: Apodidae

(Plain dark sooty olive or sooty brown above and plain grayish brown below, becoming much paler on throat, chin, and cheeks. At close range, wings slightly darker and more blackish than grayer rump and upper tail-coverts; very short rounded tail is blackish with spiny tips sometimes visible. Plumage slightly glossy, especially on wings.)

White-throated Swift

Order: Apodiformes

Family: Apodidae

(Medium-sized, black-and-white swift with relatively long and moderately notched tail. Plumage dark blackish-brown to black, with contrasting white chin, throat, breast, midbelly, and distinctive white flank-patches and edges of secondaries and tertials.)

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Order: Apodiformes

Family: Trochilidae

Belted Kingfisher (female)

Order: Coraciiformes

Family: Alcedinidae

(Body stocky, head large with conspicuous ragged double-pointed crest that covers the entire pileum from the base of the bill to the nape. A nearly complete white collar across the hindneck contrasts with the uniform blue-gray dorsum.)

Belted Kingfisher (male)

Order: Coraciiformes

Family: Alcedinidae

(Male exhibits a single blue-gray band, female a blue-gray pectoral band in addition to rufous sides and rufous band across the lower breast.)

Red-naped Sapsucker

Order: Piciformes

Family: Picidae

(Small–medium woodpecker. Black bib on upper breast, prominent red forehead with black band at rear, nape red, black stripe along side of head bordered by 2 white stripes, crown and nape black, large white wing-patch, back blackish (with yellowish tinges), rump white, and underparts buffy or yellow-tinged.)

Downy Woodpecker

Order: Piciformes

Family: Picidae

(Downy is most easily confused with its broadly sympatric congener, the Hairy Woodpecker, but Downy best distinguished by distinctly smaller size, and noticeably shorter, stubbier bill (which is shorter than the head).)

Hairy Woodpecker

Order: Piciformes

Family: Picidae

(Hairy Woodpecker larger than Downy and has proportionately longer, heavier, more chisel-like bill than Downy and (unlike Downy) lacks black spots or bars on outer webs of outer rectrices. In general, bill of Hairy appears to be nearly always as long or longer than length of head, while that of the Downy appears much shorter than head length.)

Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted)

Order: Piciformes

Family: Picidae

(Cheeks and throat tan, contrasting with gray crown and nape; wings pointed. In male, malar black and nape crescent red.)

Northern Flicker (red-shafted)

Order: Piciformes

Family: Picidae

(Malar red)