What bird did you see? Match your NYC sighting

What it asks

To answer what bird is this, start with the size, colors and place you remember clearly. The NYC Bird Finder returns plausible candidates and explains matching and contradicting clues. Use those explanations to evaluate candidates. Avoid treating the top result as an automatic identification.

Select the month of your sighting, then describe size, colors, place and overall shape. Month, size, place and shape each have a Not sure option, and colors can stay unticked. Fleeting views can still yield useful suggestions.

Which size comparison should I choose?

Compare the bird with a familiar sparrow, robin, pigeon, crow or goose. Choose tiny for a bird noticeably smaller than a sparrow. Size and shape work together, so picture a familiar reference bird beside yours.

Estimate the whole bird from bill tip to tail tip. Looking at the body alone can distort your impression of size. Select Not sure when distance or a partial view makes size comparisons unreliable.

Can I select several colors or say I am unsure?

Tick only the colors you clearly saw, and leave them all unticked when the bird appeared only in silhouette. Avoid checking colors you merely suspect were present.

Note where each color appeared for your own comparison: head, breast, wings or tail. A red breast and a red crown are distinct clues, even though both require selecting red.

What it is based on

The finder combines descriptive physical traits with monthly NYC reporting context. Its trait descriptions cover size, colors, places, shape, field marks and look-alikes. Sparrow Line's editors compiled them with AI assistance from field-guide descriptions, as short notes on the typical adult. A field mark is a visible feature used in identification, such as a throat patch or wing stripe.

The finder reduces what you saw to a few selectable attributes. Behavior and voice are not among them, so keep your own notes on both.

Seasonal statuses use Sparrow Line's index of 2021 to 2025 records from the eBird Observation Dataset, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, via GBIF. The dataset is licensed CC BY 4.0. The index was built on October 23, 2026.

For each borough, month and year, the index compares species records with records of that month's most-reported species. It takes the median across years, while the city index pools all five boroughs.

What it simplifies

How do month and habitat change the candidate list?

Select the sighting month rather than the current month. That choice provides historical reporting context, while the place option contributes to attribute matching.

Choose the setting where you observed the bird: woods, lawn, thicket, water, shore, marsh, sky, buildings or feeder. These broad categories help narrow candidates without creating rigid habitat boundaries.

A bird can move between settings, so review candidates even when the habitat seems unexpected. Use the monthly NYC bird checklist for deeper seasonal context.

The index counts reports rather than individual birds. It describes typical reporting patterns, not a recent observation or a forecast. Colors also change with age, sex and season. Young birds and females can look quite different from the typical adult, so color alone is unreliable.

How to read the result

Which field marks separate the suggested birds?

Read each candidate's matching clues, contradicting clues, field mark and named look-alike. Compare the distinguishing feature alongside overall size, shape and pattern.

Follow this comparison checklist:

The finder returns up to eight candidates ranked by attribute points. These points reflect criteria matches, not identification probabilities. Shape carries more weight than place, and adjacent size categories receive partial credit. If no bird fits your clues, the finder says so; set one clue to Not sure or check the month.

Keep an identification unresolved when several candidates remain plausible. For your next comparison, practice bird identification skills or consult our guide to NYC hawks.