Bird Species

The merlin is a small, dark, fast-flying falcon known for its aggressive low-altitude pursuit of small birds, once known in North America as the pigeon hawk.

The American kestrel is North America’s smallest falcon, a colorful, robin-sized hunter often seen hovering over roadsides in search of insects and small rodents.

The peregrine falcon is a powerful raptor famous for its hunting dive, reaching speeds over 240 mph and making it the fastest animal on Earth.

The osprey, sometimes called the fish hawk, is a large raptor found on every continent except Antarctica and one of the very few birds of prey that eats almost nothing but live fish.

The golden eagle is a powerful raptor of open western terrain, named for the golden feathers on its head and neck, and one of the most capable hunters in North America.

The bald eagle is a massive raptor with a white head and tail, a national symbol since 1782, and one of the great conservation comeback stories in US history.

The White-Tailed Hawk is a striking, pale-headed buteo of the coastal prairies, found in the United States almost exclusively in South Texas.

The most common small birds you’ll see in a US backyard, grouped by color and shape, with the key field marks that make each one identifiable.

Swainson’s Hawk breeds across the open prairies of the American West and undertakes one of the longest migrations of any North American raptor, wintering deep in South America.

How to identify a gray catbird, why it makes a call that sounds exactly like a cat, and what its impressive vocal mimicry involves.