Birds of New York

The New York State Avian Records Committee had 503 species and one species pair on its checklist as of August 2022, with 249 of them known to breed in the state. That range comes from geography: the Atlantic and Long Island Sound at one end, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie at the other, the Hudson valley between them, and the Adirondacks and Catskills stacked up in the middle.

Most New Yorkers live in the city and its suburbs, and the everyday album is the robin on the lawn, the cardinal in the hedge, the jay in the oaks and the starling on the fire escape. The rest of the state adds chickadees, loons and bluebirds, and it is only a train ride away.

The New York album

These are the 100 birds people report most often in New York, 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 American Robin leads the album, the first voice before dawn from March to July in Queens and Buffalo alike, a rolling cheerily, cheer-up, cheerio that runs on after dark under streetlights. The Blue Jay is second, screaming from the oaks and doing hawk impressions, and the Northern Cardinal is third, whistling cheer, cheer from February on.

The Mourning Dove coos from the wires, the Black-capped Chickadee whistles fee-bee from the feeder in the cold, and the American Crow is present in every month and every borough. The Song Sparrow sings from the roadside brush, the American Goldfinch bounces overhead calling po-ta-to-chip, the Red-winged Blackbird holds every cattail edge from March, and the Downy Woodpecker whinnies at the suet. The European Starling whistles, clicks and mimics from the rooftops.

The regions, by ear

New York City and Long Island

The city is on the Atlantic Flyway, and its parks catch migrants twice a year. Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, 9,155 acres of salt marsh, open water, ponds, dunes and woods in Brooklyn and Queens next to JFK, had 365 species recorded as of 2018 and is the only place called a wildlife refuge in the National Park System; Ospreys have nested there every year since 1991. Gateway National Recreation Area as a whole has more than 325 species, with Piping Plovers on the beaches and American Woodcocks in the fields in spring.

The Hudson Valley and the Catskills

River, farms and hardwood ridges. Wood Thrushes and Scarlet Tanagers in the forest, Bald Eagles along the river in winter, and Eastern Bluebirds on the fence lines of the dairy farms.

The Adirondacks

The boreal corner of the state, a park of lakes and old forest: Common Loons on the water, Canada Jays, Black-backed Woodpeckers and Boreal Chickadees in the spruce bogs, Peregrine Falcons on the cliffs and Ospreys overhead.

The Finger Lakes and the west

Long glacial lakes, vineyards and marsh. Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge at the north end of Cayuga Lake was established in 1938 on 10,000 acres of wetland, grassland, shrub and forest, with more than 300 species recorded and more than 100 nesting; it was the first site in the state for Bald Eagle restoration in the 1970s, and its three-mile Wildlife Drive is open April through November. West of it, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie pull in gulls, ducks and, along the shore in spring, a river of warblers.

Best months to listen

May is the peak everywhere: warblers in Central Park and Prospect Park, residents singing on territory, and the bluebirds already feeding young upstate. Late May into June is the Adirondacks' turn, a few weeks behind the city, with loons calling at dusk. September and October bring the warblers, hawks and falcons back down the coast, mostly silent, and the ducks and geese into Montezuma. Winter is chickadees and jays at the feeder, eagles on the Hudson ice, and the first robin song in late February that tells you it is nearly over.

Places worth the drive

• Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Queens: 365 species on the subway line, Ospreys, skimmers and egrets.
• Central Park and Prospect Park: warblers in May.
• Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, Finger Lakes: 10,000 acres of marsh, more than 300 species, eagles and a fall duck migration.
• The Adirondacks: loons on the lakes and the boreal birds of the spruce bogs.

None of it is required. A stoop in Brooklyn or a feeder in Rochester hands you the first 20 cards in Warble.

Listen before you go

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

Canada Goose song

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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 New York. Updated September 30, 2026.