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This list of birds recorded in Minnesota is based on the list published by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. The following markings are used:
Contents
- Ducks geese and swans
- Partridges grouse turkeys and Old World quail
- New World quail
- Loons
- Grebes
- Cormorants
- Frigatebirds
- Pelicans
- Bitterns herons and egrets
- Ibises and spoonbills
- Storks
- New World vultures
- Osprey
- Hawks kites and eagles
- Caracaras and falcons
- Rails gallinules and coots
- Cranes
- Lapwings and plovers
- Stilts and avocets
- Sandpipers and allies
- Gulls terns and skimmers
- Skuas
- Auks murres and puffins
- Pigeons and doves
- Cuckoos roadrunners and anis
- Barn owls
- Typical owls
- Goatsuckers
- Swifts
- Hummingbirds
- Kingfishers
- Woodpeckers sapsuckers and flickers
- Tyrant flycatchers
- Shrikes
- Vireos
- Jays crows magpies and ravens
- Larks
- Swallows and martins
- Chickadees and titmice
- Nuthatches
- Treecreepers
- Wrens
- Dippers
- Kinglets
- Gnatcatchers
- Old World flycatchers
- Thrushes
- Mockingbirds and thrashers
- Starlings
- Wagtails and pipits
- Waxwings
- Longspurs and snow buntings
- Wood warblers
- American sparrows towhees and juncos
- Cardinals saltators and grosbeaks
- Icterids
- Fringilline finches cardueline finches and allies
- Old World sparrows
- References
Birds listed as either casual or accidental should not be expected to be found anywhere in Minnesota with regularity. Except for the casual and accidental birds, only birds that are considered to have established, self-sustaining, wild populations in Minnesota or, in the case of extinct species, have had such populations in Minnesota in the past are included on this list. This means that birds that are considered probable escapees, although they may have been sighted flying free in Minnesota, are not included.
This list is presented in taxonomic order and follows The Check-list of North American Birds (7th edition, 1998) published by the American Ornithologists' Union. The family accounts at the beginning of each heading reflect this taxonomy, as do the species counts found in each family account. Introduced, casual, accidental and extinct species are included in the total species counts for North America and Minnesota.
Ducks, geese and swans
Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae
The family Anatidae includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl, such as geese and swans. These birds are adapted to an aquatic existence with webbed feet, bills which are flattened to a greater or lesser extent, and feathers that are excellent at shedding water due to special oils.
Partridges, grouse, turkeys and Old World quail
Order: Galliformes Family: Phasianidae
Phasianidae consists of the pheasants and their allies including the partridges, grouse, turkeys and Old World quail. These are terrestrial species, variable in size but generally plump, with broad, relatively short wings. Many species are gamebirds or have been domesticated as a food source for humans.
New World quail
Order: Galliformes Family: Odontophoridae
The New World quails are small, plump terrestrial birds only distantly related to the quails of the Old World, but named for their similar appearance and habits.
Loons
Order: Gaviiformes Family: Gaviidae
Loons are aquatic birds the size of a large duck, to which they are unrelated. Their plumage is largely gray or black, and they have spear-shaped bills. Loons swim well and fly adequately, but are almost hopeless on land, because their legs are placed towards the rear of the body.
Grebes
Order: Podicipediformes Family: Podicipedidae
Grebes are small to medium-large freshwater diving birds. They have lobed toes and are excellent swimmers and divers. However, they have their feet placed far back on the body, making them quite ungainly on land.
Cormorants
Order: Suliformes Family: Phalacrocoracidae
Cormorants are medium-to-large aquatic birds, usually with mainly dark plumage and areas of colored skin on the face. The bill is long, thin and sharply hooked. Their feet are four-toed and webbed, a distinguishing feature among the Pelecaniformes order.
Frigatebirds
Order: Suliformes Family: Fregatidae
Frigatebirds are large seabirds usually found over tropical oceans. They are large, black or black-and-white, with long wings and deeply forked tails. The males have colored inflatable throat pouches. They do not swim or walk and cannot take off from a flat surface. Having the largest wingspan-to-body-weight ratio of any bird, they are essentially aerial, able to stay aloft for more than a week.
Pelicans
Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Pelecanidae
Pelicans are very large water birds with a distinctive pouch under their beak Like other birds in the order Pelecaniformes, they have four webbed toes.
Bitterns, herons and egrets
Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Ardeidae
The family Ardeidae contains the herons, egrets and bitterns. Herons and egrets are medium to large wading birds with long necks and legs. Bitterns tend to be shorter necked and more secretive. Members of Ardeidae fly with their necks retracted, unlike other long-necked birds such as storks, ibises and spoonbills.
Ibises and spoonbills
Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Threskiornithidae
The family Threskiornithidae includes the ibises and spoonbills. They have long, broad wings. Their bodies tends to be elongated, the neck more so, with rather long legs. The bill is also long, decurved in the case of the ibises, straight and distinctively flattened in the spoonbills.
Storks
Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ciconiidae
Storks are large, heavy, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long stout bills and wide wingspans. They lack the powder down that other wading birds such as herons, spoonbills and ibises use to clean off fish slime. Storks lack a pharynx and are mute.
New World vultures
Order: Cathartiformes Family: Cathartidae
The New World vultures are not closely related to Old World vultures, but superficially resemble them because of convergent evolution. Like the Old World vultures, they are scavengers However, unlike Old World vultures, which find carcasses by sight, New World vultures have a good sense of smell with which they locate carcasses.
Osprey
Order: Accipitriformes Family: Pandionidae
Pandionidae is a family of fish-eating birds of prey, possessing a very large, powerful hooked beak for tearing flesh from their prey, strong legs, powerful talons and keen eyesight. The family is monotypic.
Hawks, kites and eagles
Order: Accipitriformes Family: Accipitridae
Accipitridae is a family of birds of prey, which includes hawks, eagles, kites, harriers and Old World vultures. These birds have very large powerful hooked beaks for tearing flesh from their prey, strong legs, powerful talons and keen eyesight.
Caracaras and falcons
Order: Falconiformes Family: Falconidae
Falconidae is a family of diurnal birds of prey, notably the falcons and caracaras. They differ from hawks, eagles and kites in that they kill with their beaks instead of their talons.
Rails, gallinules and coots
Order: Gruiformes Family: Rallidae
Rallidae is a large family of small to medium-sized birds which includes the rails, crakes, coots and gallinules. The most typical family members occupy dense vegetation in damp environments near lakes, swamps or rivers. In general they are shy and secretive birds, which are difficult to observe. Most species have strong legs and long toes which are well adapted to soft uneven surfaces. They tend to have short, rounded wings and to be weak fliers.
Cranes
Order: Gruiformes Family: Gruidae
Cranes are large, long-legged and long-necked birds. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back. Most have elaborate and noisy courting displays or "dances".
Lapwings and plovers
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Charadriidae
The family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels and lapwings. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short, thick necks and long, usually pointed, wings. They are found in open country worldwide, mostly in habitats near water.
Stilts and avocets
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Recurvirostridae
Recurvirostridae is a family of large wading birds, which includes the avocets and stilts. The avocets have long legs and long up-curved bills. The stilts have extremely long legs and long, thin, straight bills.
Sandpipers and allies
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Scolopacidae
Scolopacidae is a large diverse family of small to medium-sized shorebirds including the sandpipers, curlews, godwits, shanks, tattlers, woodcocks, snipes, dowitchers and phalaropes. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. Different lengths of legs and bills enable multiple species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food.
Gulls, terns and skimmers
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Laridae
Laridae is a family of medium to large seabirds and includes gulls, terns, kittiwakes and skimmers. They are typically gray or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have stout, longish bills and webbed feet.
Skuas
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Stercorariidae
Skuas are related to gulls, waders, auks and skimmers. In the three smaller species (all Holarctic), breeding adults have the two central tail feathers obviously elongated and at least some adults have white on the underparts and pale yellow on the neck, characteristics that the larger species do not share. This family was recently split from Laridae by the AOU.
Auks, murres and puffins
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Alcidae
Alcids are superficially similar to penguins due to their black-and-white colors, their upright posture and some of their habits, however they are only distantly related to the penguins and are able to fly. Auks live on the open sea, only deliberately coming ashore to nest. This family also includes murres and puffins.
Pigeons and doves
Order: Columbiformes Family: Columbidae
Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills with a fleshy cere.
Cuckoos, roadrunners and anis
Order: Cuculiformes Family: Cuculidae
The family Cuculidae includes cuckoos, roadrunners and anis. These birds are of variable size with slender bodies, long tails and strong legs.
Barn owls
Order: Strigiformes Family: Tytonidae
Barn owls are medium to large owls with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. They have long strong legs with powerful talons.
Typical owls
Order: Strigiformes Family: Strigidae
The typical owls are small to large solitary nocturnal birds of prey. They have large forward-facing eyes and ears, a hawk-like beak and a conspicuous circle of feathers around each eye called a facial disk.
Goatsuckers
Order: Caprimulgiformes Family: Caprimulgidae
Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal birds that usually nest on the ground. They have long wings, short legs and very short bills. Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Their soft plumage is cryptically colored to resemble bark or leaves.
Swifts
Order: Apodiformes Family: Apodidae
The swifts are small birds which spend the majority of their lives flying. These birds have very short legs and never settle voluntarily on the ground, perching instead only on vertical surfaces. Many swifts have very long, swept-back wings which resemble a crescent or boomerang.
Hummingbirds
Order: Apodiformes Family: Trochilidae
Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. They are the only birds that can fly backwards.
Kingfishers
Order: Coraciiformes Family: Alcedinidae
Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads, long, pointed bills, short legs and stubby tails.
Woodpeckers, sapsuckers and flickers
Order: Piciformes Family: Picidae
Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like beaks, short legs, stiff tails and long tongues used for capturing insects. Some species have feet with two toes pointing forward and two backward, while several species have only three toes. Many woodpeckers have the habit of tapping noisily on tree trunks with their beaks.
Tyrant flycatchers
Order: Passeriformes Family: Tyrannidae
Tyrant flycatchers are Passerine birds which occur throughout North and South America. They superficially resemble the Old World flycatchers, but are more robust and have stronger bills. They do not have the sophisticated vocal capabilities of the songbirds. Most are rather plain. As the name implies, most are insectivorous.
Shrikes
Order: Passeriformes Family: Laniidae
Shrikes are passerine birds known for their habit of catching other birds and small animals and impaling the uneaten portions of their bodies on thorns. A typical shrike's beak is hooked, like a bird of prey.
Vireos
Order: Passeriformes Family: Vireonidae
The vireos are a group of small to medium-sized passerine birds restricted to the New World. They are typically greenish in color and resemble wood warblers apart from their heavier bills.
Jays, crows, magpies and ravens
Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae
The family Corvidae includes crows, ravens, jays, choughs, magpies, treepies, nutcrackers and ground jays. Corvids are above average in size among the Passeriformes, and some of the larger species show high levels of intelligence.
Larks
Order: Passeriformes Family: Alaudidae
Larks are small terrestrial birds with often extravagant songs and display flights. Most larks are fairly dull in appearance. Their food is insects and seeds.
Swallows and martins
Order: Passeriformes Family: Hirundinidae
The family Hirundinidae is a group of passerines characterized by their adaptation to aerial feeding. These adaptations include a slender streamlined body, long pointed wings and short bills with a wide gape. The feet are adapted to perching rather than walking, and the front toes are partially joined at the base.
Chickadees and titmice
Order: Passeriformes Family: Paridae
The Paridae are mainly small stocky woodland species with short stout bills. Some have crests. They are adaptable birds, with a mixed diet including seeds and insects.
Nuthatches
Order: Passeriformes Family: Sittidae
Nuthatches are small woodland birds. They have the unusual ability to climb down trees head first, unlike other birds which can only go upwards. Nuthatches have big heads, short tails and powerful bills and feet.
Treecreepers
Order: Passeriformes Family: Certhiidae
Treecreepers are small woodland birds, brown above and white below. They have thin pointed down-curved bills, which they use to extricate insects from bark. They have stiff tail feathers, like woodpeckers, which they use to support themselves on vertical trees.
Wrens
Order: Passeriformes Family: Troglodytidae
Wrens are small and inconspicuous birds, except for their loud songs. They have short wings and thin down-turned bills. Several species often hold their tails upright. All are insectivorous.
Dippers
Order: Passeriformes Family: Cinclidae
Dippers are members of the genus Cinclus in the bird family Cinclidae. They are a group of perching birds named for their bobbing or dipping movements. They usually inhabit the banks of fast-moving hillside rivers, though some nest near shallow lakes.
Kinglets
Order: Passeriformes Family: Regulidae
The kinglets are a small family of birds which resemble the titmice. They are very small insectivorous birds in the genus Regulus. The adults have colored crowns, giving rise to their names.
Gnatcatchers
Order: Passeriformes Family: Polioptilidae
These dainty birds resemble Old World warblers in their structure and habits, moving restlessly through the foliage seeking insects. The gnatcatchers are mainly soft bluish gray in color and have the typical insectivore's long sharp bill. Many species have distinctive black head patterns (especially males) and long, regularly cocked, black-and-white tails.
Old World flycatchers
Order: Passeriformes Family: Muscicapidae
This is a large family of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World. The species below only occurs in North America as vagrants. The appearance of these birds is highly varied, but they mostly have weak songs and harsh calls.
Thrushes
Order: Passeriformes Family: Turdidae
The thrushes are a group of passerine birds that occur mainly but not exclusively in the Old World. They are plump, soft plumaged, small to medium-sized insectivores or sometimes omnivores, often feeding on the ground. Many have attractive songs.
Mockingbirds and thrashers
Order: Passeriformes Family: Mimidae
The mimids are a family of passerine birds that includes thrashers, mockingbirds, tremblers and the New World catbirds. These birds are notable for their vocalization, especially their remarkable ability to mimic a wide variety of birds and other sounds heard outdoors. The species tend towards dull grays and browns in their appearance.
Starlings
Order: Passeriformes Family: Sturnidae
Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds. They are medium-sized passerines with strong feet. Their flight is strong and direct and they are very gregarious. Their preferred habitat is fairly open country, and they eat insects and fruit. Plumage is typically dark with a metallic sheen.
Wagtails and pipits
Order: Passeriformes Family: Motacillidae
The Motacillidae are a family of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. They include the wagtails, longclaws and pipits. They are slender, ground feeding insectivores of open country.
Waxwings
Order: Passeriformes Family: Bombycillidae
The waxwings are a group of birds with soft silky plumage and unique red tips to some of the wing feathers. In the Bohemian and cedar waxwings, these tips look like sealing wax and give the group its name. These are arboreal birds of northern forests. They live on insects in summer and berries in winter.
Longspurs and snow buntings
Order: Passeriformes Family: Calcariidae
Wood-warblers
Order: Passeriformes Family: Parulidae
The wood warblers are a group of small often colorful passerine birds restricted to the New World. Most are arboreal, but some like the ovenbird and the two waterthrushes, are more terrestrial. Most members of this family are insectivores.
American sparrows, towhees and juncos
Order: Passeriformes Family: Emberizidae
The Emberizidae are a large family of passerine birds. They are seed-eating birds with distinctively shaped bills. In Europe, most species are called buntings. In North America, most of the species in this family are known as sparrows, but these birds are not closely related to the Old World sparrows which are in the family Passeridae. Many emberizid species have distinctive head patterns.
Cardinals, saltators and grosbeaks
Order: Passeriformes Family: Cardinalidae
The Cardinalidae are a family of robust, seed-eating birds with strong bills. They are typically associated with open woodland. The sexes usually have distinct plumages.
Icterids
Order: Passeriformes Family: Icteridae
The icterids are a group of small to medium-sized, often colorful passerine birds restricted to the New World and include the grackles, New World blackbirds and New World orioles. Most species have black as a predominant plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange or red.
Fringilline finches, cardueline finches and allies
Order: Passeriformes Family: Fringillidae
Finches are seed-eating passerine birds, that are small to moderately large and have a strong beak, usually conical and in some species very large. All have twelve tail feathers and nine primaries. These birds have a bouncing flight with alternating bouts of flapping and gliding on closed wings, and most sing well.
Old World sparrows
Order: Passeriformes Family: Passeridae
Old World sparrows are small passerine birds. In general, sparrows tend to be small plump brownish or grayish birds with short tails and short powerful beaks. Sparrows are seed eaters, but they also consume small insects.