Most commonly seen birds in Washington
Stacker compiled a list of the most common birds seen near feeders in Washington using data from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch. Birds are ranked by the percent of sites visited from Feb. 28 to Mar. 13. Ties are broken by the average group size when seen, any further ties were not broken. Data was collected at 261 count sites in Washington. 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. Dark-eyed Junco
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 95%
- Average group size: 7.35
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Washington: 95%
--- #2. Oregon: 94%
--- #2. New Jersey: 94%
--- #4. Connecticut: 93%
--- #5. Iowa: 91%
#2. Black-capped Chickadee
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 79%
- Average group size: 2.31
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Hampshire: 97%
--- #2. Maine: 96%
--- #3. Vermont: 95%
--- #4. Alaska: 94%
--- #5. Rhode Island: 92%
#3. Spotted Towhee
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 75%
- Average group size: 1.85
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Washington: 75%
--- #2. New Mexico: 65%
--- #3. Oregon: 63%
--- #4. Nevada: 38%
--- #5. Utah: 37%
#4. Song Sparrow
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 74%
- Average group size: 1.49
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Washington: 74%
--- #2. Oregon: 51%
--- #3. New Jersey: 45%
--- #3. Delaware: 45%
--- #5. Rhode Island: 44%
#5. House Finch
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 71%
- Average group size: 3.83
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Mexico: 95%
--- #2. Nevada: 94%
--- #3. Utah: 93%
--- #4. Alabama: 91%
--- #5. Arizona: 90%
#6. Chestnut-backed Chickadee
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 67%
- Average group size: 2.35
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Washington: 67%
--- #2. Oregon: 42%
--- #3. California: 36%
--- #4. Alaska: 3%
--- #4. Idaho: 3%
#7. Anna's Hummingbird
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 61%
- Average group size: 1.66
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Oregon: 68%
--- #2. Washington: 61%
--- #3. California: 60%
--- #4. Arizona: 52%
--- #5. Nevada: 6%
#8. Northern Flicker
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 58%
- Average group size: 1.63
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Colorado: 65%
--- #2. Montana: 61%
--- #2. Nebraska: 61%
--- #4. Washington: 58%
--- #5. Oregon: 49%
#9. Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 58%
- Average group size: 1.42
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Alaska: 79%
--- #2. Washington: 58%
--- #3. Maine: 52%
--- #3. Vermont: 52%
--- #5. Oregon: 49%
#10. American Robin
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 46%
- Average group size: 2.05
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Nebraska: 91%
--- #2. Arkansas: 75%
--- #3. Kentucky: 74%
--- #4. Kansas: 71%
--- #5. New Mexico: 68%
#11. Steller's Jay
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 44%
- Average group size: 2.19
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Washington: 44%
--- #2. Oregon: 39%
--- #3. Colorado: 25%
--- #4. Alaska: 24%
--- #5. California: 17%
#12. Downy Woodpecker
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 36%
- Average group size: 1.23
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Connecticut: 87%
--- #2. Missouri: 85%
--- #2. Massachusetts: 85%
--- #4. New Hampshire: 82%
--- #5. Vermont: 81%
#13. Bushtit
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 33%
- Average group size: 9.56
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Oregon: 38%
--- #2. Washington: 33%
--- #3. Colorado: 29%
--- #4. New Mexico: 26%
--- #5. California: 17%
#14. Golden-crowned Sparrow
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 33%
- Average group size: 2.54
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Oregon: 33%
--- #1. Washington: 33%
--- #3. California: 31%
--- #4. Nevada: 13%
--- #5. Alaska: 9%
#15. American Crow
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 28%
- Average group size: 2.4
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Maine: 43%
--- #2. Virginia: 41%
--- #3. Maryland: 37%
--- #4. North Carolina: 36%
--- #5. Vermont: 35%
#16. Bewick's Wren
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 24%
- Average group size: 1.1
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Texas: 26%
--- #2. Washington: 24%
--- #3. California: 22%
--- #4. Oregon: 15%
--- #5. Oklahoma: 10%
#17. American Goldfinch
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 22%
- Average group size: 3.82
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. West Virginia: 88%
--- #2. Vermont: 87%
--- #3. Maine: 85%
--- #4. New Hampshire: 80%
--- #4. Mississippi: 80%
#18. House Sparrow
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 20%
- Average group size: 3.86
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Illinois: 90%
--- #2. Nebraska: 88%
--- #3. Iowa: 87%
--- #4. South Dakota: 80%
--- #5. Indiana: 75%
#19. European Starling
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 20%
- Average group size: 3.15
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Missouri: 70%
--- #2. Indiana: 69%
--- #3. Ohio: 63%
--- #4. New Jersey: 62%
--- #5. Nebraska: 61%
#20. Purple Finch
- Sites visited Feb. 28 to Mar. 13: 19%
- Average group size: 2.06
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Mississippi: 50%
--- #2. West Virginia: 33%
--- #3. North Carolina: 31%
--- #4. Missouri: 28%
--- #4. Kentucky: 28%
