Most commonly seen birds in Illinois
Stacker compiled a list of the most common birds seen near feeders in Illinois using data from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch. Birds are ranked by the percent of sites visited from Apr. 18 to Apr. 30. Ties are broken by the average group size when seen, any further ties were not broken. Data was collected at 166 count sites in Illinois. States with less than 10 count sites were not included in rankings for each bird.
Project FeederWatch, a citizen science project where participants collect data on birds at their feeders, was founded in Ontario by Erica Dunn and the Long Point Bird Observatory in 1976. The project partnered with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology after 10 years to scale the project across the U.S. and Canada and now has over 20,000 participants.
The data Project FeederWatch collects is used by scientists to understand trends in bird populations. If you would like to participate as a FeederWatcher you can learn more about the project here.
Read on to see which birds are most commonly seen in your state.
#1. Northern Cardinal
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 93%
- Average group size: 2.47
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Arkansas: 100%
--- #1. Louisiana: 100%
--- #1. Delaware: 100%
--- #1. Rhode Island: 100%
--- #5. South Carolina: 99%
#2. House Sparrow
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 90%
- Average group size: 8.96
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Illinois: 90%
--- #2. Nebraska: 88%
--- #3. Iowa: 81%
--- #4. Wyoming: 80%
--- #5. Indiana: 79%
#3. Mourning Dove
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 87%
- Average group size: 3.31
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Delaware: 93%
--- #2. New Jersey: 91%
--- #3. Connecticut: 90%
--- #4. Pennsylvania: 89%
--- #5. Kansas: 88%
#4. House Finch
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 83%
- Average group size: 3.78
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Mexico: 100%
--- #2. Utah: 95%
--- #3. Arizona: 94%
--- #4. Indiana: 93%
--- #4. Delaware: 93%
#5. American Robin
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 80%
- Average group size: 1.74
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. South Dakota: 94%
--- #2. Nebraska: 88%
--- #3. Kentucky: 83%
--- #4. Illinois: 80%
--- #5. Iowa: 79%
#6. Downy Woodpecker
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 72%
- Average group size: 1.4
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Arkansas: 100%
--- #2. Connecticut: 89%
--- #3. Massachusetts: 83%
--- #4. Rhode Island: 82%
--- #5. Maine: 80%
#7. American Goldfinch
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 68%
- Average group size: 3.6
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Maine: 94%
--- #2. New Hampshire: 89%
--- #2. Vermont: 89%
--- #4. Wisconsin: 86%
--- #5. Nebraska: 84%
#8. Blue Jay
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 60%
- Average group size: 1.76
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Rhode Island: 100%
--- #2. South Dakota: 89%
--- #3. Connecticut: 87%
--- #3. Louisiana: 87%
--- #5. New Jersey: 86%
#9. Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 58%
- Average group size: 1.15
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Connecticut: 86%
--- #2. Florida: 81%
--- #3. Arkansas: 78%
--- #4. Kansas: 76%
--- #4. New Jersey: 76%
#10. Red-winged Blackbird
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 57%
- Average group size: 2.91
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Rhode Island: 65%
--- #1. New York: 65%
--- #3. Connecticut: 64%
--- #4. Michigan: 62%
--- #5. Indiana: 59%
#11. European Starling
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 53%
- Average group size: 3.69
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. South Dakota: 67%
--- #2. Iowa: 63%
--- #2. Nebraska: 63%
--- #4. Indiana: 60%
--- #4. New Jersey: 60%
#12. Brown-headed Cowbird
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 48%
- Average group size: 3.09
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Arkansas: 61%
--- #2. West Virginia: 54%
--- #3. Tennessee: 53%
--- #3. Ohio: 53%
--- #5. Connecticut: 52%
#13. White-throated Sparrow
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 43%
- Average group size: 2.14
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Maryland: 82%
--- #2. Delaware: 77%
--- #2. New Jersey: 77%
--- #4. Arkansas: 74%
--- #5. Virginia: 70%
#14. White-breasted Nuthatch
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 42%
- Average group size: 1.28
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Maine: 82%
--- #2. Connecticut: 77%
--- #3. Massachusetts: 72%
--- #4. Vermont: 70%
--- #5. West Virginia: 68%
#15. Common Grackle
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 37%
- Average group size: 3.1
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Wyoming: 73%
--- #2. South Dakota: 72%
--- #3. Connecticut: 67%
--- #4. Nebraska: 66%
--- #5. Rhode Island: 65%
#16. Black-capped Chickadee
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 34%
- Average group size: 1.61
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Maine: 95%
--- #2. New Hampshire: 91%
--- #3. Vermont: 89%
--- #4. Massachusetts: 88%
--- #4. Rhode Island: 88%
#17. Dark-eyed Junco
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 31%
- Average group size: 4.35
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Washington: 83%
--- #2. Vermont: 72%
--- #3. Maine: 70%
--- #4. Oregon: 64%
--- #5. New York: 63%
#18. Hairy Woodpecker
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 29%
- Average group size: 1.17
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Maine: 62%
--- #2. New Hampshire: 58%
--- #3. Wisconsin: 53%
--- #3. Minnesota: 53%
--- #5. Connecticut: 51%
#19. White-crowned Sparrow
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 27%
- Average group size: 2.11
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Nevada: 63%
--- #2. Washington: 48%
--- #3. New Mexico: 45%
--- #4. Oregon: 44%
--- #5. Wyoming: 33%
#20. Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 22%
- Average group size: 1.23
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Alaska: 61%
--- #2. Maine: 57%
--- #2. Washington: 57%
--- #4. New Hampshire: 36%
--- #4. Wisconsin: 36%
