American Robin. Order: Columbiformes Family: Columbidae. Order: Charadriiformes Family: Charadriidae. The procellariids are the main group of medium-sized "true petrels", characterized by united tubular nostrils with a median septum. The family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings. Make bird watching in Alabama even more enjoyable! Order: Passeriformes Family: Fringillidae. Skuas and jaegers are medium to large seabirds, typically with gray or brown plumage, often with white markings on the wings. The family Hirundinidae is adapted to aerial feeding. Order: Podicipediformes Family: Podicipedidae. They are strong, acrobatic fliers. The feet are adapted to perching rather than walking, and the front toes are partly joined at the base. Alabama also adopted an official state game bird in 1980 (eastern wild turkey). Some species have feet with two toes pointing forward and two backward, while several species have only three toes. Order: Charadriiformes Family: Recurvirostridae. All State Birds. [1] Between when that list was published and July 2020, three additional species have been documented through eBird. Several species often hold their tails upright. They differ from hawks, eagles, and kites in that they kill with their beaks instead of their talons. They have long, broad wings. Order: Suliformes Family: Phalacrocoracidae. It is found in marshes with some trees or scrub in the Caribbean, South America and southern Alabama. Barn Swallow. They superficially resemble the Old World flycatchers, but are more robust and have stronger bills. Their soft plumage is cryptically colored to resemble bark or leaves. Storks are large, heavy, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long stout bills and wide wingspans. There are 420 species that comprise the official Alabama Ornithological (the study of birds) Society (AOS) state list. [2] Of the 449 species, 155 are considered accidental, 13 of which are further considered hypothetical. A Project funded in part through the Alabama Tourism Department. Starlings are small to medium-sized passerines with strong feet. Flamingos filter-feed on shellfish and algae. Their long wings have black markings, as does the head. Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. Most larks are fairly dull in appearance. Order: Passeriformes Family: Hirundinidae. These are arboreal birds of northern forests. Like the Old World vultures, they are scavengers. The family Cuculidae includes cuckoos, roadrunners, and anis. Though the members of this family are similar in many respects to the southern storm-petrels, including their general appearance and habits, there are enough genetic differences to warrant their placement in a separate family. A tiny bird seemingly overflowing with energy, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet forages almost frantically through lower branches of shrubs and trees. Motacillidae is a family of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. Head has stark black crown, face, and throat. The storm-petrels are the smallest seabirds, relatives of the petrels, feeding on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering. They are plump, soft plumaged, small to medium-sized insectivores or sometimes omnivores, often feeding on the ground. Black: Red: Yellow: Gray: Brown: Pink: Olive: White: Buff: Orange: Blue: Sheen or Iridescence: Rufous or Rust: Black-headed Grosbeak. A bird of prey is any bird that hunts other animals and they are often called raptors. The males have colored inflatable throat pouches. Keep an eye out for red-tailed hawks along the Alabama bird trail. Most are arboreal, but some are terrestrial. Larks are small terrestrial birds with often extravagant songs and display flights. The black vulture has a gray head. Many parrots are vividly colored, and some are multi-colored. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short thick necks, and long, usually pointed, wings. Order: Charadriiformes Family: Scolopacidae. The Falconidae is a family of diurnal birds of prey containing the falcons and caracaras. Black-headed Grosbeak: Large, stocky finch, black-streaked, orange-brown back, black head, wings, tail. They live on insects in summer and berries in winter. Shorebird migration really picks up steam as summer turns into fall. They are small to moderately large and have strong, usually conical and sometimes very large, beaks. Smaller than a warbler or chickadee, this plain green-gray bird has a white eyering and a white bar on the wing. They have longish bills with hooked tips and webbed feet with sharp claws. A spotting scope is useful during fall. The swifts are small birds, spending most of their lives flying. Flammulated Owl: Small owl with two color morphs (gray-brown and rufous) with … They are generally found in open country, mostly in habitats near water. They have stout, longish bills and webbed feet. They are typically greenish in color and resemble wood warblers apart from their heavier bills. This list of birds of Alabama contains species documented in the U.S. state of Alabama, as accepted by the Bird Records Committee (BRC) of the Alabama Ornithological Society. It was placed in its own family in 2017. Many are gamebirds or have been domesticated as a food source for humans. The bill is also long, curved downward in the ibises, straight and markedly flattened in the spoonbills. Order: Passeriformes Family: Calcariidae. "Check-list of North and Middle American Birds", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_birds_of_Alabama&oldid=988574900, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 14 November 2020, at 00:25. They are notable for their vocalization, especially their remarkable ability to mimic a wide variety of birds and other sounds heard outdoors. The 20 or so species that regularly inhabit Alabama's many ponds, rivers, lakes, and coastal waters are excellent swimmers. Sod farms and every bit of shallow water become magnets for these birds. Frigatebirds are large seabirds usually found over tropical oceans. The New World quails are small, plump terrestrial birds only distantly related to the quails of the Old World, but named for their similar appearance and habits. Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Most have strong legs with long toes, short rounded wings, and are weak fliers. Order: Passeriformes Family: Vireonidae. The Rallidae is a large family of small to medium-sized birds which includes the rails, crakes, coots, and gallinules. Designated as the state bird in 1927, the northern flicker is a species of the woodpecker family, which makes Alabama the only state with a woodpecker as its official bird. Their relatively long necks and often stubby, broad beaks make them an easy group to recognize. They are typically gray or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. Order: Passeriformes Family: Certhiidae. Shrikes are passerines known for their habit of catching other birds and small animals and impaling the uneaten portions of their bodies on thorns. Birds of Alabama This guide is a reference for identifying species of birds reported from Alabama. Order: Coraciiformes Family: Alcedinidae. Pelicans are very large water birds with a distinctive pouch under their beak. Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Pelecanidae. Scolopacidae is a large and diverse family of small to medium-sized shorebirds which includes the sandpipers, curlews, godwits, shanks, tattlers, woodcocks, snipes, dowitchers, and phalaropes.