Birds Checklists of the United States

Here we offer bird checklists developed by others that indicate the seasonal occurrence of birds in state, federal, and private management areas, nature preserves, and other areas of special interest in the United States. Bird checklists exist for Great Plains States: Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming; East of Great Plains states: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin; and West of Great Plains: Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington.

It is hoped that these checklists will serve several purposes. First, we hope the checklists will help bird enthusiasts decide where to visit. A visit to these unique areas can be a rewarding experience for both the amateur and expert birdwatcher.

Second, we hope that these checklists will provide potential visitors with a guide to birds that might occur in a region during a particular season. The checklists were kept simple to facilitate printing so they can be easily carried into the field. And third, we hope that these checklists will stimulate and encourage visitors to these areas to help improve the accuracy and completeness of the checklists.

The information in some checklists already has been updated; these checklists contain more current information than the printed versions. Sightings of birds and other wildlife are an important part of monitoring wildlife use. Visitors are encouraged to share their observations of rare, aberrant, or occasional birds with the staff at these areas.

With each checklist, we have included an address for visitors to send information on rare birds so that checklists can be updated. To assist in establishing standards in observation and reporting, we also provide a Record Documentation Form to document supporting details of rare bird observations. The efforts and dedication of the many birders, birding groups, biologists, and resource managers who developed these checklists are acknowledged.

The information for this metadata was partially taken from the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center website at npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/chekbird/index.htm