Arkansas wild side

Arkansas wildlife and plants. Educating people on the dangers of wild things.

Wood Duck

The Wood Duck or Carolina Duck (Aix sponsa) is a species of perching duck found in North America.

Hooded Merganser

The Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) is a small duck and is the only member of the genus Lophodytes.

Horned Lark

The Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris), called the Shore Lark in Europe, is a species of bird in the genus Eremophila.

Cedar Waxwing

The Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) is a member of the family Bombycillidae or waxwing family of passerine birds. It is a medium sized, mostly brown, gray, and yellow bird named for its red wax-like wing tips. It is a native of North and Central America, breeding in open wooded areas in southern Canada and wintering in the southern half of the United States, Central America, ...more ↓

Brown Creeper

The Brown Creeper (Certhia americana), also known as the American Tree Creeper, is a small songbird, the only North American member of the treecreeper family Certhiidae.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) is a very small songbird.

Carolina Wren

The Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) is a common species of wren, resident in the eastern half of the USA, the extreme south of Ontario, Canada, and the extreme northeast of Mexico. A distinct population in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, Belize and extreme north of Guatemala is treated either as a subspecies Thryothorus ludovicianus albinucha, or as a separate ...more ↓

Winter Wren

The Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes), is a very small bird, and the only member of the wren family Troglodytidae found in Eurasia. In Anglophone Europe, it is commonly known simply as the Wren. It was once lumped with Troglodytes hiemalis of eastern North America and Troglodytes pacificus of western North America as the Winter Wren.

House Wren

The House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) is a very small songbird of the wren family, Troglodytidae. It occurs from Canada to southernmost South America, and is thus the most widely distributed bird in the Americas. It occurs in most suburban areas in its range and it is the single most common wren. Its taxonomy is highly complex and some subspecies groups are often considered ...more ↓

Bewick's Wren

The Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii) is a wren native to North America. At about 14 cm (5.5 in) long, it is grey-brown above, white below, with a long white eyebrow. While similar in appearance to the Carolina Wren, it has a long tail that is tipped in white. The song is loud and melodious, much like the song of other wrens. It lives in thickets, brush piles and hedgerows, ...more ↓

Sedge Wren

The Sedge Wren (Cistothorus platensis) is a small songbird of the Wren family. It was formerly known as the Short-billed Marsh Wren, and in South America is often known as the Grass Wren. There are about 20 different subspecies which are found across most of the Americas. Some of these forms may be separate species that could be split in the future.

Marsh Wren

The Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) is a small North American songbird of the wren family. It is sometimes called Long-billed Marsh Wren to distinguish it from the Sedge Wren, also known as Short-billed Marsh Wren.

Fish Crow

The Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus) is a species of crow that is associated with wetland habitats in the eastern and southeastern United States.

American Crow

The American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) is a large passerine bird species of the family Corvidae. It is a common bird found throughout much of North America. In the interior of the continent south of the Arctic, it is referred to as simply the "crow".

Blue Jay

The Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to North America. It is resident through most of eastern and central United States and southern Canada, although western populations may be migratory. It breeds in both deciduous and coniferous forests, and is common near and in residential areas. It is predominately blue with a white chest and ...more ↓

Northern Cardinal

The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is a North American bird in the genus Cardinalis; it is also known colloquially as the redbird or common cardinal. It can be found in southern Canada, through the eastern United States from Maine to Texas and south through Mexico. It is found in woodlands, gardens, shrublands, and swamps.

Lincoln's Sparrow

The Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii) is a medium-sized sparrow.

Swamp Sparrow

The Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) is a medium-sized sparrow related to the Song Sparrow.

Song Sparrow

The Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) is a medium-sized American sparrow. Among the native sparrows in North America, it is easily one of the most abundant, variable and adaptable species.

Chipping Sparrow

The Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) is a species of American sparrow in the family Emberizidae. It is widespread, fairly tame, and common across most of its North American range.

Clay-colored Sparrow

The Clay-colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida) is a small sparrow of North America.

American Tree Sparrow

The American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea), formerly known as the Winter Sparrow, is a medium-sized sparrow.

Field Sparrow

The Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla) is a small sparrow.

Fox Sparrow

The Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca) is a large American sparrow. It is the only member of the genus Passerella, although some authors split the genus into four species (see below).

White-crowned Sparrow

The White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) is a medium-sized sparrow native to North America.

Harris's Sparrow

The Harris's Sparrow (Zonotrichia querula) is a large sparrow. Their breeding habitat is the north part of central Canada (primarily the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, ranging slightly into northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan). In fact, this bird is Canada's only endemic breeder. In the winter they migrate to the Great Plains states of the United States, from lower South ...more ↓

White-throated Sparrow

The White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) is a passerine bird of the American sparrow family Emberizidae.

Orchard Oriole

The Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius) is the smallest North American species of icterid blackbird. The subspecies of the Caribbean coast of Mexico, I. s. fuertesi, is sometimes considered a separate species, the Ochre Oriole.

Baltimore Oriole

The Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) is a small icterid blackbird that commonly occurs in eastern North America as a migratory breeding bird. This bird received its name from the fact that the male's colors resemble those on the coat-of-arms of Lord Baltimore. Like all icterids called "orioles", it is named after an unrelated, physically similar family found in the Old World: ...more ↓

Eastern Towhee

The Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been under debate in recent decades, and formerly this bird and the Spotted Towhee were considered a single species, the Rufous-sided Towhee.

Eastern Meadowlark

The Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) is a medium-sized icterid bird, very similar in appearance to the Western Meadowlark. It occurs from eastern North America to South America, where it is also most widespread in the east.

Western Meadowlark

The Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) is a medium-sized icterid bird, about 8.5 in (22 cm) long. It nests on the ground in open country in western and central North America grassland. It feeds mostly on insects, but also seeds and berries. It has distinctive calls described as watery or flute-like, which distinguish it from the closely related Eastern Meadowlark.

Common Grackle

The Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) is a large icterid which is found in large numbers through much of North America.

Great-tailed Grackle

The Great-tailed Grackle or Mexican Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) is a medium-sized, gregarious passerine bird native to North and South America. A member of the family Icteridae, it is one of ten extant species of grackle and is closely related to the Boat-tailed Grackle and the Slender-billed Grackle. It is sometimes referred to as a “blackbird”. It is a New World ...more ↓

Yellow-throated Warbler

The Yellow-throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica) is a small migratory songbird species breeding in temperate North America. It belongs to the New World warbler family (Parulidae).

Common Yellowthroat

The Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) is a New World warbler. They are abundant breeders in North America, ranging from southern Canada to central Mexico.

Red-winged Blackbird

The Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found in most of North and much of Central America. It breeds from Alaska and Newfoundland south to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, and Guatemala, with isolated populations in western El Salvador, northwestern Honduras, and northwestern Costa Rica. It may winter as far north as ...more ↓

Evening Grosbeak

The Evening Grosbeak (Coccothraustes vespertinus) is a large finch. In the past, it was treated in a genus of its own as Hesperiphona vespertina, but is now usually placed in the same genus as the Hawfinch of Eurasia.

Bachman's Warbler

Bachman's Warbler, (Vermivora bachmanii), is (or was) a small passerine bird that inhabits the swamps and lowland forests of the southeast United States. This warbler is a migrant, wintering in Cuba. Bachman's Warbler is small for a warbler and is unique for its thin and decurved bill. It has strong sexual dimorphism. Adult males are olive above and yellow below, with a black ...more ↓

Golden-winged Warbler

The Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) is a New World warbler. It breeds in southeastern and south-central Canada and the Appalachian Mountains northeastern to north-central USA. The majority (~70%) of the global population breeds in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Manitoba. Golden-winged Warbler populations are slowly expanding northwards, but are generally declining ...more ↓

Summer Tanager

The Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra), is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), it and other members of its genus are now classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species's plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family.

Scarlet Tanager

The Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), it and other members of its genus are now classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species' plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family.

Rufous-crowned Sparrow

The Rufous-crowned Sparrow, (Aimophila ruficeps), is a smallish American sparrow. This passerine is primarily found across the Southwestern United States and much of the interior of Mexico, south to the transverse mountain range, and to the Pacific coast to the southwest of the transverse range. Its distribution is patchy, with populations often being isolated from each other. ...more ↓

Savannah Sparrow

The Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) is a small American sparrow. It is the only widely accepted member of the genus Passerculus. Comparison of mtDNA NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 and 3 sequences indicates that the Ipswich Sparrow, formerly usually considered a valid species (as Passerculus princeps), is a well-marked subspecies of ...more ↓

Dark-eyed Junco

The Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) is the best-known species of the juncos, a genus of small grayish American sparrows. This bird is common across much of temperate North America and in summer ranges far into the Arctic. It is a very variable species, much like the related Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca), and its systematics is still not completely untangled.

Le Conte's Sparrow

The Le Conte’s Sparrow (Ammodramus leconteii) is one of the smallest sparrow species in North America.

Henslow's Sparrow

Henslow's Sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii) is a small American sparrow.

Nelson's Sparrow

The Nelson's Sparrow (Ammodramus nelsoni) is a small sparrow. This bird was named after Edward William Nelson, an American naturalist. Formerly, this bird and the Saltmarsh Sparrow were considered to be a single species, the Sharp-tailed Sparrow; because of this it was briefly known as Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow.

Grasshopper Sparrow

The Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) is a small American sparrow. The genus Ammodramus contains 9 species which inhabit grasslands and prairies.

Vesper Sparrow

The Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus) is a medium-sized American sparrow. It is the only member of the genus Pooecetes.

Painted Bunting

The Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) is a species of bird in the Cardinal family, Cardinalidae, that is native to North America.

Indigo Bunting

The Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) is a small seed-eating bird in the family Cardinalidae. It is migratory, ranging from southern Canada to northern Florida during the breeding season, and from southern Florida to northern South America during the winter. It often migrates by night, using the stars to navigate. Its habitat is farmland, brush areas, and open woodland. The ...more ↓

Yellow-breasted Chat

The Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) is a large songbird, formerly considered the most atypical member of the New World warbler family, though the long-standing suspicion is that it does not actually belong there. Its placement is not definitely resolved. It is the only member of the genus Icteria.

American Redstart

The American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) is a New World warbler. It is unrelated to the Old World redstarts. It derives its name from the male's red tail, start being an old word for tail.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus) is a large insect-eating songbird in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). It is primarily a foliage gleaner. It breeds in cool-temperate North America, migrating to tropical America in winter.

Black-and-white Warbler

The Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia) is a species of New World warbler, the only member of its genus, Mniotilta. It breeds in northern and eastern North America from the Northwest Territory and Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada to Florida. This species is migratory, wintering in Florida, Central America and the West Indies down to Peru. This species is a ...more ↓

Rusty Blackbird

The Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) is a medium-sized blackbird, closely related to grackles (Rusty Grackle is an older name for the species). It is a bird that prefers wet forested areas, breeding in the boreal forest and muskeg across northern Canada, and migrating southeast to the United States during winter.

Brewer's Blackbird

The Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) is a medium-sized New World blackbird, named after the ornithologist Thomas Mayo Brewer.

Brown-headed Cowbird

The Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) is a small brood parasitic icterid of temperate to subtropical North America. They are permanent residents in the southern parts of their range; northern birds migrate to the southern United States and Mexico in winter, returning to their summer habitat around March or April.

Red Crossbill

The Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae, also known as the Common Crossbill in Eurasia. Crossbills have distinctive mandibles, crossed at the tips, which enable them to extract seeds from conifer cones and other fruits.

Connecticut Warbler

The Connecticut Warbler (Oporornis agilis) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.

Swainson's Warbler

Swainson's Warbler (Limnothlypis swainsonii) is a small species of New World warbler. It is monotypic, the only member of the genus Limnothlypis. Swainson's Warbler was named after William Swainson, an English ornithologist.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

The Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) is a medium-sized blackbird, and the only member of the genus Xanthocephalus.

Lark Sparrow

The Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus) is a fairly large American sparrow. It is the only member of the genus Chondestes.

Bobolink

The Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) is a small New World blackbird and the only member of genus Dolichonyx.

Dickcissel

The Dickcissel (Spiza americana) is a small American seed-eating bird in the family Cardinalidae. It is the only member of the genus Spiza, though some sources list another supposedly extinct species (see below). In older works, it is often placed with the American sparrows in the Emberizidae; females especially resemble American sparrows in plumage.

Prothonotary Warbler

The Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family. It is the only member of the genus Protonotaria.

Cliff Swallow

The American Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) is a member of the passerine bird family Hirundinidae — the swallows and martins.

Purple Martin

The Purple Martin (Progne subis) is the largest North American swallow. These aerial acrobats have speed and agility in flight, and when approaching their housing, will dive from the sky at great speeds with their wings tucked.

Barn Swallow

The Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts, a long, deeply forked tail and curved, pointed wings. It is found in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. In Anglophone Europe it is just called the Swallow; in Northern Europe it is the only common species called a ...more ↓

Tree Swallow

The Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) is a migratory passerine bird that breeds in North America and winters in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.

Bank Swallow

The Sand Martin (Riparia riparia) is a migratory passerine bird in the swallow family. It has a wide range in summer, embracing practically the whole of Europe and the Mediterranean countries, part of northern Asia and also North America. It winters in eastern and southern Africa, South America and South Asia. It is known as Bank Swallow in North America, and as ...more ↓

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

The Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) is a small swallow.

Loggerhead Shrike

The Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) is a passerine bird. It is the only member of the shrike family endemic to North America; the related Northern Shrike (L. excubitor) occurs north of its range but also in the Palearctic.

American Robin

The American Robin (Turdus migratorius), also known as the robin, is a migratory songbird of the thrush family. It is named after the European Robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely related, with the European robin belonging to the flycatcher family. The American Robin is widely distributed throughout North America, wintering ...more ↓

Swainson's Thrush

Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus), also called Olive-backed Thrush, is a medium-sized thrush. It is a member of Catharus genus and is typical of it in terms of its subdued coloration and beautiful voice. Swainson's Thrush was named after William Swainson, an English ornithologist.

Gray-cheeked Thrush

The Grey-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus) is a medium-sized thrush. This species is 15–17 cm in length, and has the white-dark-white underwing pattern characteristic of Catharus thrushes. It is a member of a close-knit group of migrant species together with the Veery and Bicknell's Thrush; it forms a cryptic species pair with the latter. The Grey-cheeked Thrush is all ...more ↓

Hermit Thrush

The Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) is a medium-sized North American thrush. It is not very closely related to the other North American migrant species of Catharus, but rather to the Mexican Russet Nightingale-thrush.

Veery

The Veery (Catharus fuscescens) is a small North American thrush species, a member of a group of closely related and similar species in the genus Catharus, also including the Gray-cheeked Thrush (C. minimus) and Bicknell's Thrush (C. bicknelli).

Eastern Bluebird

The Eastern Bluebird, Sialia sialis, is a small thrush found in open woodlands, farmlands and orchards, and most recently can be spotted in suburban areas. It is the state bird of Missouri and New York.

Wood Thrush

The Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) is a North American passerine bird. It is closely related to other thrushes such as the American Robin and is widely distributed across North America, wintering in Central America and southern Mexico. The Wood Thrush is the official bird of the District of Columbia.

Tufted Titmouse

The Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) is a small songbird from North America, a species in the tit and chickadee family (Paridae). The Black-crested Titmouse, found from central and southern Texas southwards, was included as a subspecies but is now considered a separate species B. atricristatus.

Sprague's Pipit

Sprague's Pipit (Anthus spragueii) is a small songbird (passerine) in the family Motacillidae that breeds in the short- and mixed-grass prairies of North America. Migratory, it spends the winters in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Sprague's Pipits are unique among songbirds in that they sing high in the sky, it is more often identified by its distinctive ...more ↓

American Pipit

The Buff-bellied Pipit (Anthus rubescens), or American Pipit as it is known in North America, is a small songbird found on both sides of the northern Pacific. It was first described by Marmaduke Tunstall in his 1771 Ornithologia Britannica. It was formerly classified as a form of the Water Pipit.

House Sparrow

The House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. A small bird, it has a typical length of 16 cm (6.3 in) and a weight of 24–39.5 g (0.85–1.39 oz). Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, and males have brighter black, white, and brown markings. One of about 25 species in the genus Passer, ...more ↓

White-breasted Nuthatch

The White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) is a small songbird of the nuthatch family which breeds in old-growth woodland across much of temperate North America. It is a stocky bird, with a large head, short tail, powerful bill and strong feet. The upperparts are pale blue-gray, and the face and underparts are white. It has a black cap and a chestnut lower belly. The nine ...more ↓

Red-breasted Nuthatch

The Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) is a small songbird. The adult has blue-grey upperparts with cinnamon underparts, a white throat and face with a black stripe through the eyes, a straight grey bill and a black crown. Its call, which has been likened to a tin trumpet, is high-pitched and nasal. It breeds in coniferous forests across Canada, Alaska and the northeastern ...more ↓

Brown-headed Nuthatch

The Brown-headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusilla) is a small songbird found in pine forests throughout the Southeastern United States. An endangered population occurs in the pineyards of Grand Bahama; some authorities consider it to represent a separate species, S. insularis. The bird, like other nuthatches, possesses a sharp black nail-like beak, which it uses to pound open ...more ↓

European Starling

The Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), also known as the European Starling or in the British Isles just the Starling, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family Sturnidae. It is about 20 cm (8 in) long and has glossy black plumage, which is speckled with white at some times of year. The legs are pink and the bill is black in winter and yellow in ...more ↓

Northern Mockingbird

The Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) is the only mockingbird commonly found in North America. This bird is mainly a permanent resident, but northern birds may move south during harsh weather. This species has rarely been observed in Europe. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema Naturæ in 1758 as Turdus polyglottos. The Northern ...more ↓

Brown Thrasher

The Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) is a bird in the family Mimidae, which also includes the New World catbirds and mockingbirds. The dispersal of the Brown Thrasher is abundant throughout the eastern and central United States, southern and central Canada, and is the only thrasher to live primarily east of the Rockies and central Texas. It is the state bird of Georgia.

Gray Catbird

The Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), also spelled Grey Catbird, is a medium-sized northern American perching bird of the mimid family. It is the only member of the "catbird" genus Dumetella. Like the Black Catbird (Melanoptila glabrirostris), it is among the basal lineages of the Mimidae, probably a closer relative of the Caribbean thrasher and ...more ↓

Great Crested Flycatcher

The Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus) is a large insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family. It is the most widespread member of the genus, Myiarchus, in North America and is found over most of the eastern and mid-western portions of the continent. It dwells mostly in the treetops and rarely is found on the ground.

Eastern Wood-Pewee

The Eastern Wood Pewee (Contopus virens) is a small tyrant flycatcher from North America. This bird and the Western Wood Pewee (C. sordidulus) were formerly considered to be a single species. The two species are virtually identical in appearance, and can be distinguished most easily by their calls.

Least Flycatcher

The Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus), (also called chebec, or chebecker, after the sound it makes), is a small insect-eating bird. It is the smallest Empidonax flycatcher in eastern North America.

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris) is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family.

Willow Flycatcher

The Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) is a small insect-eating, neotropical migrant bird of the tyrant flycatcher family. There are four subspecies of the Willow Flycatcher currently recognized, all of which breed in North America (including three subspecies which breed in California). Empidonax flycatchers are almost impossible to tell apart in the field so biologists use ...more ↓

Alder Flycatcher

The Alder Flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum) is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family.

Acadian Flycatcher

The Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens) is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family.

Eastern Kingbird

The Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) is a large tyrant flycatcher native to North America.

Edited by William Anderson, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)