Birds of New Jersey

The New Jersey Bird Records Committee had 492 species and a species pair on the state list as of March 2024. For a state this small that is remarkable, and geography explains it: a long Atlantic coast, the Delaware Bay shore, the Pine Barrens in the middle, and a peninsula at the bottom that funnels every southbound bird in the Northeast into one town.

Most people, though, live in the suburbs between New York and Philadelphia, in towns with oaks, hedges, a pond with geese and a feeder. That is cardinal, dove, robin and jay country, with a Carolina Wren shouting from the porch.

The New Jersey album

These are the 100 birds people report most often in New Jersey, 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 Northern Cardinal leads the album, whistling cheer, cheer, cheer from the top of a maple as early as February. The Mourning Dove coos from the wires, the American Robin sings the dawn chorus from March through July, and the Blue Jay screams from the oaks and imitates hawks for reasons of its own.

The Carolina Wren is the loud one: teakettle, teakettle, teakettle from under the deck, all year, from a bird the size of a golf ball. The Red-bellied Woodpecker rolls a churr from the trunks, the Song Sparrow sings from the roadside brush, and the Red-winged Blackbird holds every cattail ditch from March on. Canada Geese and Mallards are on every pond, and Turkey Vultures tilt overhead all day, silent.

The regions, by ear

The suburbs and the Meadowlands

The corridor from Bergen County to Trenton is the loudest part of the state simply because it has the most yards. Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Morris County, about 26 miles west of Times Square, is 7,853 acres of marsh, swamp forest and grassland set aside by Congress in 1960, with more than 244 species recorded: Wood Ducks, Wood Thrushes and Barred Owls, a short drive from the Turnpike.

The Highlands and the northwest

Ridges, reservoirs and hardwood forest along the Delaware. Scarlet Tanagers and Wood Thrushes in the oaks, and Ovenbirds shouting teacher, teacher.

The Pine Barrens

Pitch pine and sand in the middle of the state. Pine Warblers trill from the tops, Eastern Towhees call drink your tea, and whip-poor-wills go all night in June.

The Atlantic coast

Behind the barrier islands is salt marsh, and Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge holds more than 48,000 acres of it, running 50 miles along the back bays from Brick Township to the edge of Atlantic City. More than 360 species are on the list; American Black Ducks and Atlantic Brant winter here, Piping Plovers nest on the beaches, and the eight-mile Wildlife Drive puts you on a dike between the marsh and the casino skyline.

Cape May and the Delaware Bay

The southern tip of the state is the most famous migration spot on the East Coast. Cape May National Wildlife Refuge protects beach, bayshore, salt marsh and upland woods on the Atlantic Flyway; its five miles of Delaware Bay shore are a major spring staging area for shorebirds, second in North America only to Alaska's Copper River Delta. In fall the woods fill with warblers, kestrels stream down the peninsula, and woodcocks sit in the dunes.

Best months to listen

May is the peak for song: residents on territory and warblers moving through the parks, best at dawn. Late May on the Delaware Bay is shorebird time. June is the month for the Pine Barrens after dark. September and October are Cape May's season, when north winds push hawks, warblers and falcons down to the point; the birds are mostly quiet then, but there are more of them than at any other time. Winter is brant on the back bays and cardinals and Carolina Wrens still singing on mild days.

Places worth the drive

• Cape May: the fall migration, September to November, and Delaware Bay shorebirds in May.
• Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, near Atlantic City: 48,000 acres of salt marsh, an eight-mile auto drive, brant and black ducks in winter.
• Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Morris County: 7,853 acres of swamp and marsh 26 miles from Manhattan.
• The Pine Barrens: Pine Warblers by day and whip-poor-wills by night in June.

None of it is required. A yard in Montclair or Cherry Hill hands you the first 20 cards in Warble by the end of April.

Listen before you go

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

Canada Goose song

0:12

Recording by Chase Harris, CC0, via iNaturalist.

Mallard song

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

Rock Pigeon song

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Recording by Richard Littauer, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist.

Questions people ask

Nearby albums

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