Birds of Massachusetts

Massachusetts fits in a morning's drive, but it runs from the Berkshire hills to sand spits that reach out into the Atlantic. The Massachusetts Avian Records Committee had 516 species on the state list as of July 2023, a big number for a small place, and the coast is why. Salt marsh, barrier beach and open ocean add gulls, terns, plovers and sea ducks to a set of inland birds that would otherwise look like any New England state.

In a yard, though, the state is chickadee, jay, robin, cardinal, Song Sparrow and dove, with titmice, nuthatches and Downy Woodpeckers at the feeder from November to March. Those are the first dozen cards, and you can have them without leaving the porch.

The Massachusetts album

These are the 100 birds people report most often in Massachusetts, ranked by how frequently they turn up. The common and uncommon ones are shown; the rare and legendary cards stay face down until you catch them in the game.

Backyard birds you will hear first

The Black-capped Chickadee is the sound of a Massachusetts feeder: a two-note whistled fee-bee from late winter on, and the chick-a-dee-dee-dee call all year, with extra dee notes when a hawk or a cat is close. The Blue Jay is second in the album and the loudest thing in the oaks. The American Robin starts the dawn chorus from March, and the Northern Cardinal whistles from the hedge as early as February.

The Song Sparrow sings a few clear notes and then a jumble from the top of a shrub, in city lots as much as in marsh edges. The Tufted Titmouse whistles peter, peter, the White-breasted Nuthatch honks a nasal yank down a trunk, and the American Goldfinch calls as it dips overhead. The Canada Goose is the pond bird.

The regions, by ear

Boston and the inner suburbs

More trees than people expect. Mount Auburn Cemetery, 174 acres in Cambridge and Watertown with more than 5,500 trees, has recorded over 220 species since 1958 and fills with warblers in May. Parks, cemeteries and the Charles River give you the whole backyard list plus Baltimore Orioles, catbirds and Chimney Swifts.

The North Shore and the Great Marsh

Salt marsh from Cape Ann to the New Hampshire line. Parker River refuge on Plum Island, 4,662 acres set up in 1942 five miles from Newburyport, has more than 300 species on its list: shorebirds on the mudflats in August, sea ducks off the beach in winter, Piping Plovers on the sand in summer, and marsh sparrows in the grass.

Cape Cod and the Islands

Pine barrens, kettle ponds and 40 miles of open Atlantic beach inside the Cape Cod National Seashore. Terns and plovers on the outer beach, gulls everywhere, and Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Bay sanctuary, 1,183 acres of salt marsh, barrier beach and pine woods with five miles of trail, is the easy way into it.

Central hills and the Berkshires

Oak and maple giving way to hemlock and spruce as you climb. This is Wood Thrush and Hermit Thrush country in June, with Ovenbirds shouting teacher, teacher, Red-eyed Vireos going all day, and Ruffed Grouse drumming in April.

Best months to listen

Late April through early June is the peak, when the residents are on territory and the migrants pass through the city parks and the Cape woods. June mornings in the hills are thrush and warbler song from first light. August is shorebird month on the North Shore flats. September and October bring the hawks and the second wave of songbirds south along the coast. Winter is sea ducks, eiders and the odd Snowy Owl on the beaches, and chickadees, titmice and nuthatches at the feeder. The hour after sunrise carries most of the sound in any month.

Places worth the drive

• Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Plum Island: 4,662 acres of beach, dune and salt marsh, more than 300 species, shorebirds in August and sea ducks in winter.
• Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge: 174 acres of old trees and over 220 species, the city's warbler stop in May.
• Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, South Wellfleet: 1,183 acres of marsh, barrier beach and pine woods on the outer Cape.
• Cape Cod National Seashore: 43,607 acres and nearly 40 miles of Atlantic beach, terns, plovers and gulls.

None of it is required for the album. A feeder, a maple and a hedge give you the first 20 cards in Warble before the snow melts.

Listen before you go

Three of the common Massachusetts birds, so the first songs you hear outside already ring a bell.

Canada Goose song

0:12

Recording by Chase Harris, CC0, via iNaturalist.

Wood Duck song

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Recording by Chase Harris, CC0, via iNaturalist.

Mallard song

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Recording by Fionn Ó Marcaigh, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist.

Questions people ask

Nearby albums

Album data: public bird observations aggregated through GBIF, ranked by report frequency in Massachusetts. Updated September 30, 2026.