Most commonly seen birds in Utah
compiled a list of the most common birds seen near feeders in Utah using data from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's . Birds are ranked by the percent of sites visited from Jan. 3 to Jan. 16. Ties are broken by the average group size when seen, any further ties were not broken. Data was collected at 38 count sites in Utah. 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 .
Read on to see which birds are most commonly seen in your state.
#1. House Finch
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 95%
- Average group size: 5.09
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Mexico: 96%
--- #2. Utah: 95%
--- #3. Alabama: 94%
--- #4. Arizona: 89%
--- #4. Kentucky: 89%
#2. Dark-eyed Junco
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 74%
- Average group size: 3.35
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Rhode Island: 96%
--- #2. Delaware: 95%
--- #3. Washington: 94%
--- #3. Oregon: 94%
--- #5. Connecticut: 93%
#3. Black-capped Chickadee
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 71%
- Average group size: 1.79
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Maine: 97%
--- #2. Vermont: 95%
--- #3. New Hampshire: 93%
--- #3. Rhode Island: 93%
--- #5. Massachusetts: 88%
#4. House Sparrow
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 61%
- Average group size: 6.48
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Iowa: 89%
--- #1. Illinois: 89%
--- #3. South Dakota: 81%
--- #3. Nebraska: 81%
--- #5. Rhode Island: 78%
#5. Lesser Goldfinch
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 55%
- Average group size: 7.37
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Nevada: 68%
--- #2. Arizona: 57%
--- #3. Utah: 55%
--- #4. California: 54%
--- #5. Oregon: 42%
#6. Eurasian Collared-Dove
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 50%
- Average group size: 3.98
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. South Dakota: 56%
--- #1. Montana: 56%
--- #3. Wyoming: 55%
--- #4. Utah: 50%
--- #5. Colorado: 48%
#7. Spotted Towhee
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 42%
- Average group size: 1.75
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Washington: 65%
--- #2. New Mexico: 63%
--- #3. Oregon: 56%
--- #4. Utah: 42%
--- #5. California: 30%
#8. Black-billed Magpie
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 42%
- Average group size: 1.74
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Montana: 52%
--- #2. Alaska: 46%
--- #3. Utah: 42%
--- #4. Colorado: 40%
--- #5. Wyoming: 30%
#9. Northern Flicker
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 42%
- Average group size: 1.16
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Colorado: 64%
--- #2. Nebraska: 53%
--- #3. Washington: 52%
--- #4. Oregon: 51%
--- #5. Montana: 48%
#10. American Robin
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 37%
- Average group size: 2.07
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Tennessee: 47%
--- #2. Delaware: 46%
--- #2. Kentucky: 46%
--- #4. Colorado: 39%
--- #5. New Mexico: 37%
#11. Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 37%
- Average group size: 1.72
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Mexico: 46%
--- #2. Utah: 37%
--- #3. Arizona: 14%
--- #4. Colorado: 13%
--- #5. Texas: 3%
#12. Song Sparrow
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 32%
- Average group size: 1.3
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Washington: 67%
--- #2. Oregon: 51%
--- #3. West Virginia: 41%
--- #4. Connecticut: 39%
--- #5. Pennsylvania: 36%
#13. Mourning Dove
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 26%
- Average group size: 3.52
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. West Virginia: 91%
--- #2. New Jersey: 82%
--- #3. Rhode Island: 81%
--- #4. Kentucky: 80%
--- #5. Tennessee: 79%
#14. American Goldfinch
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 26%
- Average group size: 3.25
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Vermont: 83%
--- #2. Maine: 82%
--- #3. Oklahoma: 81%
--- #4. New Hampshire: 73%
--- #5. West Virginia: 71%
#15. Downy Woodpecker
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 26%
- Average group size: 1.14
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Connecticut: 90%
--- #2. Rhode Island: 85%
--- #3. Missouri: 84%
--- #3. Massachusetts: 84%
--- #3. New Hampshire: 84%
#16. California Quail
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 24%
- Average group size: 8.29
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Nevada: 36%
--- #2. Utah: 24%
--- #3. Idaho: 22%
--- #4. California: 10%
--- #5. Washington: 5%
#17. Cooper's Hawk
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 18%
- Average group size: 1.0
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Nevada: 32%
--- #2. Arizona: 26%
--- #3. Rhode Island: 19%
--- #3. Illinois: 19%
--- #5. Utah: 18%
#18. Red-winged Blackbird
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 13%
- Average group size: 4.65
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Alabama: 37%
--- #2. Georgia: 30%
--- #3. Louisiana: 27%
--- #4. Oklahoma: 26%
--- #5. Mississippi: 23%
#19. White-crowned Sparrow
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 13%
- Average group size: 1.89
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. California: 61%
--- #2. Nevada: 60%
--- #3. Arizona: 52%
--- #4. New Mexico: 37%
--- #5. Colorado: 16%
#20. Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Sites visited Jan. 3 to Jan. 16: 11%
- Average group size: 1.05
- States with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Idaho: 12%
--- #2. Utah: 11%
--- #3. Wyoming: 10%
--- #4. Missouri: 7%
--- #4. New Mexico: 7%
