Backyard Birds of Michigan: Common Species by Season

Michigan backyard birds at a glance

American robin: Michigan’s state bird

The American robin became Michigan’s state bird in 1931, and it is still one of the most familiar birds in the state. Adults have a gray-brown back, a dark head and a warm orange breast; females are a little paler. Robins run and pause on lawns, tilting their heads as they look for earthworms, and they sing a rich, caroling song from first light. Our American robin profile covers the species in detail.

Robins are often called the first sign of spring, but many never leave Michigan. In winter they simply change habits, gathering in flocks in woods, swamps and along rivers to eat crabapples, sumac, juniper and other fruit, which is why they seem to vanish from lawns. Read more in where do robins go in winter?

Black-capped chickadee: the year-round regular

The black-capped chickadee is a tiny, fearless bird that weighs only about 10–14 g (0.35–0.49 oz). It has a black cap and bib, white cheeks, a gray back and buff flanks. Its call is the familiar “chick-a-dee-dee-dee”, and studies show that it adds more “dee” notes when a predator is more dangerous. In late winter and spring, males also whistle a clear, two-note “fee-bee”.

Chickadees live in Michigan all year, from city parks to the northern forests. They hide thousands of seeds in bark crevices each autumn and remember where many of them are, and on cold nights they lower their body temperature to save energy. Find out how in how do chickadees survive winter?

Northern cardinal: red in the snow

The male northern cardinal is bright red with a pointed crest and a black face around a thick, red-orange bill. The female is warm brown with reddish wings, tail and crest. Both sexes sing loud, clear whistles such as “cheer-cheer-cheer” and “birdie-birdie-birdie”, and pairs stay together all year.

Cardinals were rare in Michigan in the 19th century. They spread northward during the 20th century as towns, gardens and woodland edges provided food and cover, and today they are common across the Lower Peninsula. In the Upper Peninsula they are still scarce away from towns. See our northern cardinal profile.

Blue jay and American goldfinch

The blue jay is a large, noisy songbird with a blue crest, a black necklace and white patches on its wings and tail. Blue jays bury acorns and other nuts for later, helping oaks spread, and they often imitate the screams of red-shouldered and red-tailed hawks. Most Michigan jays stay all year, but in May and September thousands migrate along the Great Lakes shorelines, a sight easy to see at places such as Whitefish Point.

The American goldfinch is Michigan’s small “wild canary.” In summer the male is lemon yellow with a black cap and black wings; in winter both sexes turn a dull olive-brown, which is why many people think goldfinches leave. Goldfinches nest late, in July and August, when thistles and other plants provide the soft down they use to line their nests.

Winter birds: juncos and red-breasted nuthatches

The dark-eyed junco is often called the “snowbird,” because flocks arrive in southern Michigan in October and leave in April. Michigan’s juncos are slate-gray above with a white belly and a pale pink bill, and they flash white outer tail feathers when they fly up. They feed on the ground, often under shrubs. Juncos also nest in the coniferous forests of the Upper Peninsula and the northern Lower Peninsula.

The red-breasted nuthatch is a small, short-tailed bird with a black cap, a black stripe through the eye and rusty underparts. It creeps headfirst down tree trunks and gives a nasal “yank-yank” call, often compared to a tiny tin horn. It lives year-round in the conifer forests of the north, and in winters when cone crops fail it moves south in large numbers, an event called an irruption.

Other common year-round birds

• Mourning dove: a slender, gray-brown dove with a long, pointed tail and a soft, mournful “coo-OO-oo-oo-oo” song. Its wings whistle when it takes off.
• Downy woodpecker: Michigan’s smallest woodpecker, black and white with a short bill; males have a red patch on the back of the head. The similar hairy woodpecker is larger, with a bill almost as long as its head.
• White-breasted nuthatch: larger than its red-breasted cousin, with a white face and breast and a loud “yank” call.
• Red-bellied woodpecker and tufted titmouse: common in the southern Lower Peninsula and slowly spreading north.
• House finch: males have a red head and breast and brown-streaked flanks. House finches from the eastern US spread into Michigan in the second half of the 20th century.
• House sparrow and European starling: both introduced from Europe in the 19th century and now common around homes, farms and cities.

Summer visitors

From April and May, migrants arrive from the south to nest. The ruby-throated hummingbird is the only hummingbird that regularly breeds in Michigan; it weighs about 3 g (0.1 oz) and visits flowers and feeders from May to September. The Baltimore oriole, bright orange and black, sings from tall trees and weaves a hanging, bag-shaped nest.

Other summer favorites include the rose-breasted grosbeak, gray catbird, chipping sparrow, house wren and red-winged blackbird. Male red-winged blackbirds are among the first migrants to return, often arriving in late February or March while snow is still on the ground.

Upper Peninsula differences

The Upper Peninsula is colder, snowier and more heavily forested than the southern Lower Peninsula, and its backyard birds reflect that. Cardinals, tufted titmice and red-bellied woodpeckers are scarce or absent in many areas. Instead, northern birds are more common, especially in winter:

• Evening grosbeak and pine grosbeak: large, colorful finches of the north woods that wander south in some winters.
• Canada jay: a fluffy gray jay of boreal forests that boldly visits campsites and cabins.
• Common redpoll and pine siskin: small, streaky finches that arrive in large flocks in irruption years.
• Snow bunting: white-winged buntings that feed in open fields and along roadsides in winter.

A Michigan specialty: Kirtland’s warbler

Michigan is also home to one of North America’s rarest songbirds. The Kirtland’s warbler nests almost only in young jack pine forests in the northern Lower Peninsula, with smaller numbers now in the Upper Peninsula, Wisconsin and Ontario. After decades of habitat management, the population recovered enough for the species to be removed from the US endangered species list in 2019. It is not a backyard bird, but guided tours near Grayling show it to visitors in early summer.

Seasonal calendar

• Winter (December–February): chickadees, cardinals, blue jays, juncos, nuthatches, downy woodpeckers and, in some years, redpolls and grosbeaks.
• Spring (March–May): red-winged blackbirds and robins return first, followed by orioles, grosbeaks, hummingbirds and warblers in May.
• Summer (June–August): nesting robins, cardinals, catbirds, wrens and goldfinches.
• Autumn (September–November): migrating jays and sparrows, juncos returning, and goldfinches fading to winter colors; learn why in why do goldfinches change color?