Brown birds of North America
Colour is usually the first thing you notice and the least reliable thing to identify on — light, angle, and season all shift it, and females often look nothing like males. These 152 birds all read as brown in the field. Check the field marks on each page to be sure.
152 birds
Canada GooseBranta canadensis
House SparrowPasser domesticus
Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
Chipping SparrowSpizella passerina
KilldeerCharadrius vociferus
Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
Song SparrowMelospiza melodia
American WigeonMareca americana
Brown PelicanPelecanus occidentalis
California TowheeMelozone crissalis
Carolina WrenThryothorus ludovicianus
Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagica
House WrenTroglodytes aedon
Northern FlickerColaptes auratus
OspreyPandion haliaetus
Pied-billed GrebePodilymbus podiceps
Savannah SparrowPasserculus sandwichensis
Spotted SandpiperActitis macularius
White-throated SparrowZonotrichia albicollis
White-winged DoveZenaida asiatica
Wild TurkeyMeleagris gallopavo
American Tree SparrowSpizelloides arborea
Barred OwlStrix varia
Bewick's WrenThryomanes bewickii
Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
Brown CreeperCerthia americana
Brown ThrasherToxostoma rufum
Cactus WrenCampylorhynchus brunneicapillus
Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorum
Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
Curve-billed ThrasherToxostoma curvirostre
Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
Gila WoodpeckerMelanerpes uropygialis
Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
Greater RoadrunnerGeococcyx californianus
Hermit ThrushCatharus guttatus
Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
Lark SparrowChondestes grammacus
Marsh WrenCistothorus palustris
Northern BobwhiteColinus virginianus
Northern PintailAnas acuta
Northern Rough-winged SwallowStelgidopteryx serripennis
Palm WarblerSetophaga palmarum
Pine SiskinSpinus pinus
Swainson's HawkButeo swainsoni
Swamp SparrowMelospiza georgiana
Wood ThrushHylocichla mustelina
American PipitAnthus rubescens
American WoodcockScolopax minor
Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalus
Bank SwallowRiparia riparia
Burrowing OwlAthene cunicularia
California ThrasherToxostoma redivivum
DunlinCalidris alpina
Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
Least SandpiperCalidris minutilla
Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus
Northern WaterthrushParkesia noveboracensis
Pacific WrenTroglodytes pacificus
Rough-legged HawkButeo lagopus
Ruffed GrouseBonasa umbellus
Semipalmated PloverCharadrius semipalmatus
Short-eared OwlAsio flammeus
SoraPorzana carolina
Swainson's ThrushCatharus ustulatus
Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
Wilson's SnipeGallinago delicata
Winter WrenTroglodytes hiemalis
American BitternBotaurus lentiginosus
Golden EagleAquila chrysaetos
Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
Long-eared OwlAsio otus
Prairie FalconFalco mexicanus
Sedge WrenCistothorus stellaris
Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
Bohemian WaxwingBombycilla garrulus
American RobinTurdus migratorius
MallardAnas platyrhynchos
Brown-headed CowbirdMolothrus ater
Eurasian Collared-DoveStreptopelia decaocto
House FinchHaemorhous mexicanus
Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
Turkey VultureCathartes aura
BushtitPsaltriparus minimus
California QuailCallipepla californica
GadwallMareca strepera
Indigo BuntingPasserina cyanea
Western MeadowlarkSturnella neglecta
White-crowned SparrowZonotrichia leucophrys
Blue-winged TealSpatula discors
Chestnut-backed ChickadeePoecile rufescens
Eastern MeadowlarkSturnella magna
Fox SparrowPasserella iliaca
Gambel's QuailCallipepla gambelii
MerlinFalco columbarius
Northern HarrierCircus hudsonius
Oak TitmouseBaeolophus inornatus
Purple FinchHaemorhous purpureus
Red-shouldered HawkButeo lineatus
Blue GrosbeakPasserina caerulea
Cinnamon TealSpatula cyanoptera
Common RedpollAcanthis flammea
Rock WrenSalpinctes obsoletus
Semipalmated SandpiperCalidris pusilla
VeeryCatharus fuscescens
Vermilion FlycatcherPyrocephalus obscurus
Cassin's FinchHaemorhous cassinii
Mountain QuailOreortyx pictus
Sage ThrasherOreoscoptes montanus
Scaled QuailCallipepla squamata
Harris's SparrowZonotrichia querula
Dark-eyed JuncoJunco hyemalis
Common YellowthroatGeothlypis trichas
Eastern PhoebeSayornis phoebe
Eastern Wood-PeweeContopus virens
Great-tailed GrackleQuiscalus mexicanus
Northern ShovelerSpatula clypeata
Ring-necked PheasantPhasianus colchicus
American KestrelFalco sparverius
Ash-throated FlycatcherMyiarchus cinerascens
Cooper's HawkAstur cooperii
Eastern Screech-OwlMegascops asio
Great Crested FlycatcherMyiarchus crinitus
Hooded MerganserLophodytes cucullatus
BrantBranta bernicla
Canyon WrenCatherpes mexicanus
DickcisselSpiza americana
Ferruginous HawkButeo regalis
Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
Olive-sided FlycatcherContopus cooperi
Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
Virginia RailRallus limicola
Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
California Scrub-JayAphelocoma californica
Green-winged TealAnas carolinensis
Wood DuckAix sponsa
Barn OwlTyto alba
Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon pyrrhonota
Golden-crowned SparrowZonotrichia atricapilla
Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
Rose-breasted GrosbeakPheucticus ludovicianus
SanderlingCalidris alba
Sandhill CraneAntigone canadensis
WilletTringa semipalmata
Black-bellied PloverPluvialis squatarola
BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
Lazuli BuntingPasserina amoena
Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpres
Woodhouse's Scrub-JayAphelocoma woodhouseii
Great KiskadeePitangus sulphuratus
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