NYC bird checklist: what to look for this month

Pick a month and a borough or park to list the birds common to rare in NYC reports from 2021–2025, tick what you see and print the list.

Seasons · Updated October 23, 2026 · Editorial team Sparrow Line

NYC bird checklist by month

235 species reported in the five boroughs. Pick a month and a place; tick what you see (your ticks stay in this browser).

Species reported here, month by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOct119NovDec

119 species reported in October across the five boroughs.

  • American Robin Turdus migratorius

    commoncommon all year

    Orange breast below gray back, with broken white eye-ring.

  • European Starling Sturnus vulgaris

    commoncommon all year

    Short-tailed, pointed-winged blackbird with iridescent plumage, heavily pale-spotted in winter.

  • Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis

    commoncommon all year

    Pointed crest and thick orange-red bill in both sexes.

  • Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura

    commoncommon all year

    Long, pointed tail with white outer edges.

  • Rock Pigeon Columba livia

    commoncommon all year

    Stocky city pigeon, typically gray with two black wing bars.

  • Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata

    commoncommon all year

    Blue crest and bold black necklace.

  • Canada Goose Branta canadensis

    commoncommon all year

    Black neck and head with a broad white chinstrap.

  • Mallard Anas platyrhynchos

    commoncommon all year

    Blue wing patch bordered in white; breeding males have glossy green heads.

  • White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis

    commoncommon Jan–May, uncommon Jun, rare Jul, uncommon Aug, fairly common Sep, common Oct–Dec

    White throat patch and yellow spots between bill and eyes.

  • American Herring Gull Larus smithsonianus

    commoncommon all year

    Large pale gray gull with pink legs and black wingtips.

  • Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia

    commoncommon all year

    Bold breast streaks usually converge into a dark central spot.

  • Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis

    commoncommon Jan–Apr, fairly common May–Jun, common Jul–Dec

    Black ring encircles the yellow bill near its tip.

Seasonal data: eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0, 2021–2025. Status is our own index: how often a bird is reported, relative to the most-reported bird that month (reports, not a promise of a sighting).

In short

  • Pick a month and an area (all of New York City, one borough or one of the parks we cover) to list the birds reported there, each with a status.
  • Statuses come from our index of 2021–2025 records in the eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology, via GBIF, CC BY 4.0).
  • Common means at least a quarter as many reports as the month's most-reported bird; rare means at least one two-hundredth.
  • Seen ticks stay in your browser with no account, and the list prints for a walk.

What it asks

The checklist on this page needs one choice and offers three more. Pick a month first. Then choose the area: all of New York City, one of the five boroughs, or one of the parks we cover. A group filter narrows the list to one kind of bird, and the status chips show or hide common, fairly common, uncommon and rare species.

It does not ask who you are or where you stand. The ticks you make for birds you saw stay in this browser.

What it is based on

The statuses come from our index of the EOD, the eBird Observation Dataset of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, published on GBIF under a CC BY 4.0 license. We use records from 2021 to 2025. For each borough, month and year, we divide the records of a species by the records of the most-reported species in that area and month. The median of the five years becomes the index; the city figure pools all five boroughs. Parks get the same index, counted from records inside each park's outline.

Status follows fixed thresholds against that leader. Common means at least a quarter of the leader's records, fairly common at least 0.08 of them, uncommon at least 0.02 and rare at least 0.005. A species is kept only if its city index reaches 0.01 in some month, which leaves 235 species on the list.

For a cross-check, NYC Bird Alliance offers its own printable checklist of birds found in the city, linked from its birding page.

What it simplifies

It counts reports, not birds. A record exists only when someone birds a place and posts what they found, so busy parks and busy seasons leave more records than quiet corners. "Common" here means common in reports compared with the leader of that month, not a count of birds in the trees.

The five-year median smooths out unusual years. A winter with an influx of a northern finch, or a spring with a single famous rarity, barely moves it. A report index is a guide to what is usual, never a promise of a sighting, and it is not live.

Smaller areas carry fewer records. A park has a thinner sample than a borough, and a borough a thinner one than the city. An empty month means there were too few reports to give a status, not proof that the bird was absent.

How to read the result

Enter yours in the checklist, then read each row in two parts. The chip gives the status for your month and area. The 12-month mini bar shows the same species across the year, so you can see whether your month sits at a peak, at the edge of a season or in a gap.

A bird that is rare this month but common next month is usually on its way in or out; plan for the stronger month if you want better odds. When a species shows common in the city but has no status for your park, widen the area to the borough before you rule it out.

Tick what you see as you walk. The ticks stay in your browser, and printing gives you a paper copy of the current list. When a bird refuses to fit any row, describe it in the NYC bird finder by size, color and place. To decide where to go for the month, open where to watch birds in NYC, and for the bigger picture of the year, go back to the NYC birding year.

  1. Check the night forecast

    In spring and fall, look at the BirdCast forecast map the evening before. It predicts how many birds will be in the air about three hours after sunset, not how many will be on the ground.

  2. Pick a park that fits the month

    Use the place guides to match the season to a park: wooded parks for songbird migration, open water for winter ducks.

  3. Go early

    NYC Bird Alliance says birding is often best between dawn and 11 a.m., when birds are most active.

  4. Identify before you tick

    Confirm a bird by more than one field mark, such as size, shape, pattern and voice. If you are unsure, run it through the bird finder first.

  5. Watch from the path

    Stay on trails, keep your distance and do not play recorded songs, as NYC Bird Alliance asks of birders in city parks.

Questions we get

Where are my seen ticks saved?

In this browser on this device. There is no account, so ticks do not follow you to another phone or browser, and clearing your browser's site data removes them. Print the list if you want a copy that lasts.

Why is a bird I saw not on the list?

A species stays on the list only if its report index for the whole city reaches a set minimum in at least one month. True rarities fall below that line. A bird can also have no status in your month or area when reports there are too few, which does not mean it was absent.

Is this the same as eBird bar charts?

No. It is our own index built from the eBird Observation Dataset as published on GBIF, with our method and status thresholds. It does not reproduce eBird's own figures, so its statuses can differ from what eBird shows.

Can I use it on a walk without signal?

Print the list for your month and area before you leave, tick birds by hand on the walk, and add the ticks on the page once you are back online.

Keep reading

How we know

Seasonal patterns are guides, not promises of a sighting. Check current access rules and conditions before heading out. Give birds space, stay on open paths and avoid disturbing nests or roosts.