Backyard Birds of Pennsylvania: Common Feeder and Yard Species

How many birds live in Pennsylvania?

The Pennsylvania Ornithological Records Committee accepts about 450 species for the state. Many are migrants or rare visitors, but a few dozen species account for most birds at feeders and in yards.

Pennsylvania’s geography shapes which birds you see. Long forested ridges run through the center of the state, the Allegheny Plateau in the north is cooler and heavily wooded, and the southeast and southwest are warmer and more built up around Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania also has a short stretch of Lake Erie shoreline in the northwest.

Year-round feeder birds

These birds can be seen in Pennsylvania yards in every season.

Northern cardinal

The northern cardinal is Pennsylvania’s most recognizable feeder bird, although it is not the state bird. A century ago cardinals were scarce in much of the northern United States; they have spread north with suburbs, shrubby yards and backyard feeding. Both sexes sing loud whistled songs, and pairs stay together on their territory all winter.

Blue jay

Blue jays are noisy, intelligent birds that bury acorns for later, which helps oak forests spread. They often imitate hawk calls, especially the scream of the red-shouldered hawk. Some Pennsylvania jays migrate in spring and fall, while others stay near feeders all winter. See our blue jay profile for more.

Mourning dove

The mourning dove is one of the most abundant birds in North America. Its soft, sad-sounding cooing is often mistaken for an owl, and its wings whistle when it takes flight. Doves feed on seeds on the ground and can raise several broods in one year.

Other common residents

Tufted titmice, white-breasted nuthatches, downy, hairy and red-bellied woodpeckers, Carolina wrens, song sparrows, house finches and American goldfinches are common across most of the state. American robins are best known as spring birds, but many spend the winter in Pennsylvania, eating berries in flocks. House sparrows and European starlings, both introduced from Europe in the 1800s, live around towns and farms.

Black-capped or Carolina chickadee?

Pennsylvania is split between two nearly identical chickadees. The black-capped chickadee lives in the north of the state and on higher ground in the mountains. The Carolina chickadee lives in the warmer southeast, including the Philadelphia area, and in the southwest around Pittsburgh.

Where they meet, the two species interbreed in a narrow hybrid zone. A 2014 study led by researchers from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology found that the zone in southeastern Pennsylvania averaged about 35 km (21 mi) across and had moved north by roughly 1.1 km (0.7 mi) a year over the previous decade, closely tracking milder winter temperatures.

• Black-capped: whiter edges on the wing feathers, slower and lower “chick-a-dee” call, two- or three-note “fee-bee” song.
• Carolina: grayer wings, faster and higher call, four-note “fee-bee-fee-bay” song.

Near the boundary, birds may sing the other species’ song, so where you live is often the best clue. Both species survive Pennsylvania winters by storing food and lowering their body temperature on cold nights, as explained in how chickadees survive winter.

Winter visitors

From October to April, birds from Canada and northern New England add variety to Pennsylvania feeders.

• Dark-eyed junco. Slate gray above and white below with white outer tail feathers. Juncos feed on the ground beneath feeders and are often called “snowbirds.” Some also nest in the state’s northern and mountain forests.
• White-throated sparrow. A striped-headed sparrow with a white throat and a yellow spot by the eye, often found in brushy yards.
• American tree sparrow. A rusty-capped sparrow with a dark central breast spot that visits fields and feeders in cold weather.
• Northern finches. Red-breasted nuthatches, pine siskins and purple finches move into Pennsylvania in large numbers in some winters, when cone and seed crops fail farther north, and are scarce in others. Evening grosbeaks, once regular winter visitors, have declined steeply and now appear mainly in occasional irruption years.

Summer visitors

In spring, migrants arrive from the southern US, Mexico, Central America and South America to nest.

• Ruby-throated hummingbird. The only hummingbird that regularly nests in Pennsylvania, 7–9 cm (2.8–3.5 in) long. It usually arrives in late April or early May and leaves by early October.
• House wren. A small brown wren with a bubbling song that readily nests in birdhouses.
• Gray catbird. A gray bird with a black cap that “mews” like a cat from dense shrubs.
• Chipping sparrow. A small sparrow with a rusty cap that feeds on lawns.
• Baltimore oriole and rose-breasted grosbeak. Two colorful birds of tall shade trees; orioles weave hanging nests at the tips of branches.
• Eastern phoebe. A gray-brown flycatcher that wags its tail and nests on ledges under porches, bridges and barn roofs.

The ruffed grouse: Pennsylvania’s state bird

The ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) is a chunky, chicken-like forest bird, 40–50 cm (16–20 in) long and weighing 450–750 g (1–1.7 lb). It comes in gray and brown forms, with a fan-shaped tail crossed by a dark band near the tip and dark feathers on the sides of the neck, the “ruffs” that give it its name.

Pennsylvania’s General Assembly named it the official state game bird in 1931, and it is usually listed as the state bird because Pennsylvania never chose another (see our list of US state birds).

In spring, males stand on a fallen log and beat their wings rapidly to make a low, accelerating thumping sound called drumming, which can carry about 400 m (a quarter of a mile) through the woods. Grouse need young, dense forest, and their numbers in Pennsylvania have fallen as forests have matured and young woodland has been lost. Research has also linked West Nile virus to higher grouse deaths. They are usually seen only in yards next to large woodlands.

Tips for identifying Pennsylvania backyard birds

• House finch or purple finch? Male purple finches look dipped in raspberry juice, including the back; male house finches have brown-streaked flanks and backs.
• Downy or hairy woodpecker? The downy’s bill is much shorter than its head; the hairy’s bill is about as long as its head.
• Junco or eastern phoebe? Both are gray, but juncos have pink bills and flash white tail edges, while phoebes perch upright and wag their tails.

When and where to watch birds in Pennsylvania

Winter is the easiest time to watch feeder birds, and May brings the peak of spring migration, when warblers, tanagers and orioles pass through wooded parks. Presque Isle State Park on Lake Erie is a well-known migration stop. Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in eastern Pennsylvania, founded in 1934 as a refuge for birds of prey, records an average of about 20,000 hawks, eagles and falcons each fall. Anyone can contribute sightings through the Great Backyard Bird Count each February and Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count.