Most commonly seen birds in Montana
Stacker compiled a list of the most common birds seen near feeders in Montana using data from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch. Birds are ranked by the percent of sites visited from Jan. 31 to Feb. 13. Ties are broken by the average group size when seen, any further ties were not broken. Data was collected at 50 count sites in Montana. 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. Black-capped Chickadee
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 80%
- Average group size: 2.58
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Vermont: 96%
--- #2. Maine: 95%
--- #3. New Hampshire: 90%
--- #3. Massachusetts: 90%
--- #5. Wisconsin: 88%
#2. Northern Flicker
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 64%
- Average group size: 1.39
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Colorado: 70%
--- #2. Montana: 64%
--- #3. Washington: 57%
--- #4. South Dakota: 53%
--- #5. Oregon: 49%
#3. House Finch
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 60%
- Average group size: 5.74
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Mexico: 97%
--- #2. Alabama: 93%
--- #3. Utah: 92%
--- #4. Arkansas: 90%
--- #5. Nevada: 89%
#4. Black-billed Magpie
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 60%
- Average group size: 2.48
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Montana: 60%
--- #2. Alaska: 39%
--- #3. Utah: 37%
--- #4. Colorado: 36%
--- #5. Wyoming: 27%
#5. Eurasian Collared-Dove
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 56%
- Average group size: 3.02
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Wyoming: 73%
--- #2. South Dakota: 67%
--- #3. Montana: 56%
--- #4. Utah: 55%
--- #5. Colorado: 51%
#6. Pine Siskin
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 46%
- Average group size: 5.13
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Montana: 46%
--- #2. New Mexico: 28%
--- #3. Alaska: 22%
--- #4. Colorado: 17%
--- #5. Wisconsin: 11%
#7. Dark-eyed Junco
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 42%
- Average group size: 3.82
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Delaware: 98%
--- #2. Washington: 97%
--- #2. Rhode Island: 97%
--- #4. Connecticut: 96%
--- #5. Oregon: 95%
#8. American Goldfinch
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 40%
- Average group size: 5.28
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Maine: 87%
--- #1. West Virginia: 87%
--- #3. Vermont: 78%
--- #3. Louisiana: 78%
--- #5. Arkansas: 77%
#9. Downy Woodpecker
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 36%
- Average group size: 1.31
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Rhode Island: 93%
--- #2. Connecticut: 85%
--- #3. Massachusetts: 84%
--- #3. Iowa: 84%
--- #5. Minnesota: 83%
#10. Mountain Chickadee
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 32%
- Average group size: 1.35
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Mexico: 48%
--- #2. Nevada: 42%
--- #3. Montana: 32%
--- #4. Colorado: 29%
--- #5. Wyoming: 27%
#11. House Sparrow
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 28%
- Average group size: 7.08
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Washington, D.C.: 100%
--- #2. Illinois: 89%
--- #3. Iowa: 85%
--- #4. Indiana: 77%
--- #5. Ohio: 75%
#12. American Robin
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 28%
- Average group size: 2.61
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Nebraska: 64%
--- #2. Kansas: 58%
--- #3. Georgia: 54%
--- #4. New Mexico: 50%
--- #4. Kentucky: 50%
#13. Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 28%
- Average group size: 1.3
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Alaska: 64%
--- #2. Washington: 58%
--- #3. Maine: 54%
--- #4. Michigan: 47%
--- #5. Wisconsin: 46%
#14. Hairy Woodpecker
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 24%
- Average group size: 1.08
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Vermont: 66%
--- #2. New Hampshire: 64%
--- #3. Maine: 58%
--- #4. Wisconsin: 55%
--- #5. Minnesota: 54%
#15. Rock Pigeon
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 16%
- Average group size: 3.94
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Wyoming: 27%
--- #2. Nevada: 21%
--- #3. Arizona: 20%
--- #3. Washington, D.C.: 20%
--- #5. New Mexico: 17%
#16. Song Sparrow
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 16%
- Average group size: 1.07
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Washington, D.C.: 70%
--- #2. Washington: 69%
--- #3. Rhode Island: 63%
--- #4. West Virginia: 58%
--- #5. Pennsylvania: 53%
#17. Red Crossbill
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 14%
- Average group size: 3.01
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Montana: 14%
--- #2. Idaho: 4%
--- #3. Alaska: 3%
--- #4. Colorado: 2%
#18. Townsend's Solitaire
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 14%
- Average group size: 1.43
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Wyoming: 20%
--- #2. Montana: 14%
--- #3. New Mexico: 8%
--- #4. Colorado: 7%
--- #4. South Dakota: 7%
#19. Blue Jay
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 12%
- Average group size: 1.9
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Jersey: 84%
--- #2. Rhode Island: 83%
--- #3. Ohio: 82%
--- #4. West Virginia: 79%
--- #5. New York: 78%
#20. American Crow
- Sites visited Jan. 31 to Feb. 13: 10%
- Average group size: 4.38
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Oklahoma: 40%
--- #2. Virginia: 38%
--- #3. Maine: 36%
--- #4. Maryland: 34%
--- #5. Florida: 33%
