


Top 20 Most Common Bird in Coeur d'Alene
From lush forests to sparkling lakes, Coeur d'Alene is a paradise for birdwatchers, with a stunningly diverse array of bird species taking refuge in its diverse habitats. This region harbors an enchanting world of avian biodiversity, each species a testament to the area's ecological richness. Few of the area's iconic feathered denizens include the Ospreys, Red-tailed Hawks, and the majestic Bald Eagles. Home to around 20 common species, Coeur d'Alene provides an unparalleled experience into the world of our feathered friends.

Most Common Bird

1. Black-capped Chickadee
This small songbird is the most common garden bird in Canada and the northern USA, and also one of the most scientifically studied birds in the world. Able to produce more than 15 complex sounds, the black-capped Chickadee can easily confuse predators with its calls. It's a clever, skillful, and adaptable bird—it can retrieve hidden food after a month and it's able to fly even when its body temperature drops.

2. American Robin
The american Robin is the most common, and largest, thrush in North America. It's a bird of striking colors, including its vibrant, red-breasted plumage and pale blue eggs. It likes to feed on summer fruit and berries, but worms play an important role in its diet as well. This songbird is a state bird of Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Its cheery song is considered one of the first signs of spring.

3. Song Sparrow
The song Sparrow can be found low to the ground in vegetation and thickets in nearly all habitat conditions, including suburban areas. They are frequent visitors to home birdfeeders but can also be seen foraging for food on the ground. Their appearance can differ across the 24 known subspecies, but all of them tend to only make short, fluttery flights.

4. House Finch
Frequent in urban environments and human-created habitats such as parks and backyards, the little house Finch is known for its loud but pleasant, cheerful singing. It feeds on the ground, mostly on seeds, berries, and other plant material. This bird is highly sociable and very adaptable. It often visits feeders.

5. Canada Goose
Though this large, widespread bird is mainly known for its aggressively territorial nature, often shown by spitting, chasing, honking, or attacking, the canada Goose does have more loving traits. They mate for life, and this species is one of the birds that has minimal “divorce rates.” Interestingly, they choose mates by size, so smaller geese will mate with other small geese, and larger geese with other large geese.

6. Northern Flicker
In the search of its favorite food—ants—the northern Flicker often forages leaf litter and tree bark, which makes it the only ground forager in the woodpecker group. It's a migratory species, which is quite a rare behavior for woodpeckers, as well. The northern Flicker has an eastern (yellow-shafted) and a western (red-shafted) form. It lays a large number of eggs - the known record is 71 eggs in 73 days.

7. Red-breasted Nuthatch
Short and round, the tiny red-breasted Nuthatch attracts notice with its high energy level and the black and white striping on its head. Look for it this little active bird at your bird feeder, or listen for a “yank-yank” call, similar to the sound of a small tin horn honking. This bird is known to collect resin from trees and plaster it in front of its nest as a way to ward off predators.

8. Common Raven
The common Raven is one of the most ubiquitous species of birds and is revered for its high intelligence. These birds prefer open habitats, but can be found in nearly all environmental conditions besides rainforests. As a social species, some subspecies of common Raven have been known to have 15 to 33 different categories of calls!

9. Mallard
The mallard is the most abundant duck species in the world, and the ancestor of all domestic ducks. Only the female can produce the distinctive "quack" sound. When the female lays eggs, the male abandons its mate, while the protective mother stays with the ducklings for a long time. This migratory species inhabits shallow waters and it's one of the most popular game birds.

10. Pygmy Nuthatch
Measurements: Length: 3.5-4.3 in (9-11 cm) Weight: 0.3-0.4 oz (9-11 g) Wingspan: 19.7 cm (7.75 in) It ranges from southern British Columbia south through various discontinuous parts of the western U.S. (northwest U.S., Sierra Nevada range, southern Rockies, etc.), to central Mexico. It is usually found in pines (especially ponderosa pines), Douglas-firs, and other conifers. Pygmy nuthatches clamber acrobatically in the foliage of these trees, feeding on insects and seeds; less often they creep along limbs or the trunk like bigger nuthatches. Pygmy nuthatches nest in cavities in dead stubs of conifers, lining the bottom of the cavity with pine-cone scales, plant down, and other soft plant and animal materials. They may fill cracks or crevices around the entrance with fur; the function of this behavior is unknown. The female lays 4–9 eggs, which are white with fine reddish-brown spotting. She does most of the incubation, which lasts about 16 days. The young leave the nest about 22 days after hatching. This species is highly gregarious. A nesting pair may have other birds as helpers. Outside the breeding season, this bird wanders in noisy flocks. It also roosts communally; over 100 birds have been seen huddled in a single tree cavity. All plumages are similar, with a warm gray cap, blue-gray upper-parts, and whitish underparts. The only feature not seen in the photograph is a whitish spot on the nape, particularly in worn plumage (summer). Vocalizations are highly varied chirps, peeps, and chattering. This species is very similar to the brown-headed nuthatch of the southeastern U.S. Their ranges have no overlap. The pygmy nuthatch features prominently in the climax of the 2000 film Charlie's Angels, in which Cameron Diaz's character, Natalie, discovers the location of the villains' fortress by identifying the call of the pygmy nuthatch, which she says only live in Carmel, California—though the bird shown is not a pygmy nuthatch, which in any case is found in a much wider range. (The Hollywood impostor is a Venezuelan troupial, Icterus icterus.)


11. Dark-eyed Junco
One of the most common birds of North America, the dark-eyed Junco lives in flocks in open forests, but it's very common in urban areas. This a highly variable species consists of at least five subspecies. This ground bird is often seen during winter, so it's sometimes called the "Snowbird," although it shares the nickname with the Snow bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis).

12. Ring-billed Gull
The ring-billed Gull is a medium-sized gull and the most widespread gull of North America. Extremely well-adapted to humans, these omnivorous birds can be regularly seen in parking lots and garbage dumps, feeding on a wide range of foods. They are agile flyers, able to pick up food mid-flight. Many of them return to breed in the colony where they were born.

13. Mountain Chickadee
The mountain Chickadee is a flocking bird found in mountainous regions with dense evergreen coverage. These birds have an interesting feeding behavior where they hang upside-down on branches to find seeds and insects. They can survive on just ten calories per day so they often store excess seeds for later. They have a very distinct "chick-a-dee" call which gives them their name.

14. California Quail
The california Quail is a small, ground-dwelling bird that is well adapted to urban environments. This unobtrusive and highly sociable bird lives in large flocks that sometimes count more than 70 individuals. The male and the female produce different calls, often singing in "orchestral patterns". A state bird of California, a california Quail appeared as a character in Walt Disney's "Bambi."

15. European Starling
The european Starling, a large, hardy songbird, is one of the most commonly seen bird species in North America. Originally from Europe, this species was brought to the U.S. in the 1890s by enthusiasts of William Shakespeare, who had the unique goal of bringing over every single species of bird that was mentioned in Shakespeare's collective works. Unfortunately, the european Starling, being an adaptable, generalist species, spread invasively across the continent, hurting many native species' populations in the process.

16. Pine Siskin
The pine Siskin is a very small finch that moves unpredictably between habitats from year to year. It can be abundant in an area one year but totally absent the next. This irregular movement is related to food sources - particularly the yields of hemlock, pine, and birch seeds and buds. This songbird is a sociable species that often joins flocks of goldfinches.

17. American Crow
The american Crow is a big black bird that can be found in forests, fields, river groves, and among human habitations. Interestingly, it is known to stand atop ant hills and allow ants to climb onto its feathers; this apparently discharges their formic acid and makes them more palatable for the crow to eat. Sadly, american Crow numbers have been substantially affected by the West Nile virus in North America. Infected birds die from West Nile in less than a week.

18. Black-billed Magpie
A large, familiar bird of urban and suburban areas, this black-billed Magpie is often seen standing on road signs and fence posts. This opportunistic bird is known as the "raider" of other birds' nests. Thanks to its long tail, it is able to change the direction of flight suddenly. In some cultures, the black-billed Magpie is considered a bad omen.

19. American Goldfinch
Brilliant yellow plumage characterizes the small american Goldfinch, but this prominent yellow color is present only in males during the mating season. A strict vegetarian, this bird feeds on seeds and other plant material. The american Goldfinch is an active and acrobatic bird, which can be often seen flying in a bouncy pattern.

20. Osprey
This large raptor is commonly known as osprey and can be found in every continent apart from Antarctica. It nests near bodies of water as its diet is made up of mostly fish and hunts with its clear vision that can see objects in the water while flying. The Pandion haliaetus usually mates for life.