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Birds at Anahuac NWR
Below is a list of bird species that are listed as seen on the refuge according to the USFWS. Photos of birds were taken at Anahuac NWR unless otherwise noted. Photographs used with permission by photographers.
Special thanks to the following contributors:
Allen Biedrzycki (AB), Joe Blackburn (JB), Mason Henicke (MH), Greg Jackson (GJ), Matthew Jackson (MJ), George Nobles (GN), Colin Shields (CS), Quentin Thigpen (QT), Norman Welsh (NW)
The symbols identify when the species is typically seen on the refuge and how often.
| A Abundant- A common species that is very numerous. | C Common-Certain to be seen in suitable habitats. |
| U Uncommon-Present, not certain to be seen. | O Occasional-Seen few times during the season |
| R Rare-Seen at intervals of 2 to 5 years | X Accidental-Has been seen only once or twice |
| * Nesting species |
Click here for printable USFWS Anahuac NWR bird list (June 2003)
| Family | Species | Spring | Summer | Fall | Winter | |
| Loons | ||||||
| Common Loon | U | |||||
| Grebes | ||||||
| Least Grebe | Accidental | |||||
| Pied-billed Grebe |  NW | C | A | C | C | |
| Horned Grebe |  QT | O | ||||
| Eared Grebe | C | C | C | |||
| Boobies and Gannets | ||||||
| Northern Gannet | Accidental | |||||
| Pelicans | ||||||
| American White Pelican | C | C | A | |||
| Brown Pelican |  NW | O | O | O | ||
| Cormorants | ||||||
| Neotropic Cormorant |  MJ | U | O | U | U | |
| Double Crested Cormorant |  NW | C | C | C | ||
| Anhingas | ||||||
| Anhinga |  NW | U | U | U | O | |
| Frigatebirds | ||||||
| Magnificent Frigatebird |  NW | O | O | |||
| Bitterns and Herons | ||||||
| American Bittern |  JB | C | C | O | ||
| Least Bittern* |  NW | C | C | C | ||
| Great Blue Heron* |  MJ | C | C | C | C | |
| Great Egret* |  MJ | C | C | C | C | |
| Snowy Egret* |  AB NW | C | C | C | C | |
| Little Blue Heron* |  NW | U | U | U | U | |
| Tricolored Heron* |  JB | C | C | C | C | |
| Reddish Egret |  MJ | O | ||||
| Cattle Egret* |  JB | A | A | A | O | |
| Green Heron* |  MH | C | C | C | R | |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron* |  NW | C | C | C | U | |
| Yellow-crowned Night-Heron* |  AB | U | U | U | O | |
| Ibises and Spoonbills | ||||||
| White Ibis |  MJ | C | C | C | C | |
| Glossy Ibis | R | O | O | O | ||
| White-faced Ibis |  NW | C | C | A | C | |
| Roseate Spoonbill |  QT MJ | C | C | C | C | |
| Storks | ||||||
| Wood Stork |  JB NW | U | U | |||
| American Vultures | ||||||
| Black Vulture |  NW | C | U | U | U | |
| Turkey Vulture |  NW | C | C | C | C | |
| Ducks, Geese, and Swans | ||||||
| Black-bellied Whistling Duck* |  AB NW | U | U | U | O | |
| Fulvous Whistling Duck* |  NW | C | U | U | O | |
| Greater White-fronted Goose | O | A | A | |||
| Snow Goose |  JB | U | A | A | ||
| Ross' Goose | R | U | U | |||
| Canada Goose | O | C | A | |||
| Tundra Swan |  WP | Accidental | ||||
| Wood Duck |  NW | U | U | |||
| Gadwall |  NW | C | A | A | ||
| Eurasian Wigeon | Accidental | |||||
| American Wigeon |  NW | C | C | O | ||
| American Black Duck | Accidental | |||||
| Mallard |  NW | C | A | A | ||
| Mottled Duck* |  NW | C | C | C | C | |
| Blue-winged Teal* |  AB | A | R | A | O | |
| Cinnamon Teal |  GN | U | ||||
| Northern Shoveler |  NW | A | A | A | ||
| Northern Pintail | C | A | A | |||
| Green-winged Teal |  NW | C | A | A | ||
| Canvasback |  NW | U | U | C | ||
| Redhead |  NW | O | O | O | ||
| Ring-necked Duck |  NW(male)  NW(female) | U | C | C | ||
| Greater Scaup | R | |||||
| Lesser Scaup |  NW | C | C | C | ||
| Black Scoter | Accidental | |||||
| Long-tailed Duck | Accidental | |||||
| Bufflehead | O | O | ||||
| Common Goldeneye | R | |||||
| Hooded Merganser | R | R | ||||
| Red-breasted Merganser |  WP | A | U | |||
| Masked Duck* | R | R | ||||
| Ruddy Duck* |  NW | C | R | C | C | |
| Family | Species | Spring | Summer | Fall | Winter | |
| Hawks, Kites, and Eagles | ||||||
| Osprey |  NW | O | O | O | ||
| White-tailed Kite |  NW | U | U | C | ||
| Mississippi Kite | O | O | ||||
| Bald Eagle |  JB | O | O | |||
| Northern Harrier |  NW(female)  NW(male) | C | R | C | C | |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | O | O | ||||
| Cooper's Hawk |  NW | O | O | |||
| Red-shouldered Hawk |  QT | O | O | O | O | |
| Broad-winged Hawk | U | U | ||||
| Swainson's Hawk | U | U | ||||
| White-tailed Hawk |  NW | X | O | O | ||
| Red-tailed Hawk |  MH | C | C | C | ||
| Ferruginous Hawk | Accidental | |||||
| Rough-legged Hawk | R | R | ||||
| Golden Eagle | R | R | ||||
| Carcaras and Falcons | ||||||
| Crested Carcara* |  GJ | R | U | |||
| American Kestrel | C | C | ||||
| Merlin |  NW | R | R | |||
| Peregrine Falcon |  NW | O | O | O | ||
| Prairie Falcon | R | R | ||||
| Pheasants and Turkeys | ||||||
| Ring-necked Pheasant | O | O | O | O | ||
| New World Quail | ||||||
| Northern Bobwhite* |  NW | U | U | U | U | |
| Rails, Gallinules, and Coots | ||||||
| Yellow Rail | U | U | U | |||
| Black Rail |  NW | O | R | O | O | |
| Clapper Rail* |  NW | C | C | C | C | |
| King Rail* |  NW | C | C | C | C | |
| Virginia Rail | U | U | U | |||
| Sora |  JB | U | U | U | ||
| Purple Gallinule* |  JB | C | C | U | ||
| Common Gallinule* |  NW | C | A | C | C | |
| American Coot* |  MJ | A | O | A | A | |
| Cranes | ||||||
| Sandhill Crane | O | |||||
| Plovers | ||||||
| Black-bellied Plover |  CS | C | C | U | ||
| American Golden-Plover | A | R | ||||
| Snowy Plover | R | |||||
| Semipalmated Plover |  NW | U | U | |||
| Piping Plover | O | O | ||||
| Killdeer* |  WP | C | C | A | A | |
| Stilts and Avocets | ||||||
| Black-necked Stilt* |  NW | C | C | C | ||
| American Avocet |  NW | U | C | U | ||
| Jacanas | ||||||
| Northern Jacana | Accidental | |||||
| Family | Species | Spring | Summer | Fall | Winter | |
| Sandpipers and Phalaropes | ||||||
| Greater Yellowlegs |  NW | A | A | C | ||
| Lesser Yellowlegs |  NW | A | A | C | ||
| Solitary Sandpiper |  NW | U | U | |||
| Willet |  MJ | C | C | C | C | |
| Spotted Sandpiper |  NW | C | C | U | ||
| Upland Sandpiper |  NW | C | C | |||
| Whimbrel |  JB | O | R | |||
| Long-billed Curlew |  JB | C | C | C | ||
| Hudsonian Godwit | O | |||||
| Marbled Godwit |  NW | C | C | U | ||
| Ruddy Turnstone |  NW(breeding plummage)  NW | O | O | O | ||
| Surfbird | Accidental | |||||
| Red Knot | O | O | ||||
| Sanderling | U | O | U | U | ||
| Semipalmated Sandpiper | A | A | ||||
| Western Sandpiper | A | A | C | |||
| Least Sandpiper | C | C | U | |||
| White-rumped Sandpiper |  NW | U | ||||
| Baird's Sandpiper | U | U | ||||
| Pectoral Sandpiper | A | A | ||||
| Dunlin |  NW | A | A | C | ||
| Stilt Sandpiper |  NW | A | A | |||
| Buff-breasted Sandpiper | O | O | ||||
| Short-billed Dowitcher |  NW | U | U | U | ||
| Long-billed Dowitcher |  NW | A | A | C | ||
| Wilson's Snipe |  NW | C | C | C | ||
| American Woodcock | U | U | U | |||
| Wilson's Phalarope |  NW(female)  NW(male) | U | U | |||
| Ruff |  JB(female) | Accidental | ||||
| Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers | ||||||
| Laughing Gull |  NW | A | A | A | C | |
| Franklin's Gull | O | |||||
| Ring-billed Gull |  NW | C | C | C | ||
| California Gull | Accidental | |||||
| Herring Gull |  NW | C | U | C | ||
| Bonaparte's Gull |  NW | U | U | O | ||
| Gull-billed Tern |  NW | C | C | C | O | |
| Caspian Tern | U | U | U | U | ||
| Royal Tern |  NW | U | U | U | U | |
| Sandwich Tern |  NW | O | ||||
| Common Tern | O | O | R | |||
| Forster's Tern |  NW | C | C | C | C | |
| Least Tern* |  NW | C | C | |||
| Sooty Tern | Accidental | |||||
| Black Tern |  NW | A | C | A | ||
| Black Skimmer |  NW | U | U | U | R | |
| Pigeons and Doves | ||||||
| Rock Dove | R | |||||
| Band-tailed Pigeon | Accidental | |||||
| Eurasian Collard-Dove | R | R | R | R | ||
| White-winged Dove | R | R | ||||
| Mourning Dove* |  NW | C | C | C | C | |
| Inca Dove* | R | R | R | |||
| Common Ground- Dove | R | |||||
| Cuckoos | ||||||
| Black-billed Cuckoo |  NW(Smith Oaks) | O | ||||
| Yellow-billed Cuckoo |  NW | C | U | |||
| Groove-billed Ani |  NW | Accidental | ||||
| Barn Owls | ||||||
| Barn Owl |  JB | U | U | U | U | |
| Typical Owls | ||||||
| Eastern Screech-Owl | R | R | R | R | ||
| Great Horned Owl | O | O | O | O | ||
| Burrowing Owl |  JB | O | O | |||
| Short-eared Owl |  NW | U | U | |||
| Goatsuckers | ||||||
| Common Nighthawk* |  JB | A | A | C | ||
| Chuck-will's-widow | U | U | ||||
| Eastern Whip-poor-will |  GN | U | U | |||
| Swifts | ||||||
| Chimney Swift | R | R | ||||
| Hummingbirds | ||||||
| Ruby-throated |  | U | U | |||
| Kingfishers | ||||||
| Belted Kingfisher |  NW(female)  NM(male) | C | C | U | ||
| Woodpeckers | ||||||
| Red-headed Woodpecker | R | |||||
| Red-bellied Woodpecker |  NW | O | R | |||
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | O | |||||
| Downy Woodpecker* | U | U | U | U | ||
| Northern Flicker | U | C | O | |||
| Pileated Woodpecker | Accidental | |||||
| Tyrant Flycatchers | ||||||
| Olive-sided Flycatcher | R | U | ||||
| Eastern Wood-Pewee |  NW | U | U | |||
| Yellow-bellied Flycatcher | U | U | ||||
| Acadian Flycatcher | U | U | ||||
| Alder Flycatcher |  NW | R | R | |||
| Willow Flycatcher | U | U | ||||
| Least Flycatcher | U | U | ||||
| Eastern Phoebe |  NW | U | C | C | ||
| Say's Phoebe | Accidental | |||||
| Vermilion Flycatcher |  | O | O | |||
| Ash-throated Flycatcher | U | U | R | |||
| Great Crested Flycatcher | U | U | ||||
| Western Kingbird |  NW | R | R | |||
| Eastern Kingbird* |  NW | C | U | C | ||
| Scissor-tailed Flycatcher* |  NW | C | U | C | ||
| Great Kiskadee |  WP | Accidental | ||||
| Shrikes | ||||||
| Loggerhead Shrike* |  NW | C | U | C | C | |
| Vireos | ||||||
| White-eyed Vireo | U | U | ||||
| Yellow-throated Vireo | O | |||||
| Blue-headed Vireo | U | U | R | |||
| Warbling Vireo | O | |||||
| Philadelphia Vireo | O | |||||
| Red-eyed Vireo | U | U | ||||
| Crows and Jays | ||||||
| Blue Jay | U | C | ||||
| American Crow | Accidental | |||||
| Larks | ||||||
| Horned Lark* | C | U | C | C | ||
| Swallows | ||||||
| Purple Martin* | C | C | ||||
| Tree Swallow | A | A | ||||
| Violet-green Swallow | Accidental | |||||
| Northern Rough-winged | U | U | ||||
| Bank Swallow |  NW | U | U | |||
| Cliff Swallow |  NW | U | U | |||
| Barn Swallow* |  NW | A | C | A | ||
| Chickadees and Titmice | ||||||
| Carolina Chickadee | U | U | U | U | ||
| Creepers | ||||||
| Brown Creeper | U | |||||
| Wrens | ||||||
| Carolina Wren | U | U | U | U | ||
| House Wren | C | U | O | |||
| Winter Wren | R | R | ||||
| Sedge Wren | C | C | C | |||
| Marsh Wren* |  QT | U | U | U | U | |
| Kinglets | ||||||
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | O | |||||
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |  NW | C | U | O | ||
| Gnatcatchers | ||||||
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |  NW | C | C | U | ||
| Thrushes | ||||||
| Eastern Bluebird | Accidental | |||||
| Veery | O | O | ||||
| Gray-cheeked Thrush | U | U | ||||
| Swainson's Thrush | C | C | ||||
| Hermit Thrush | U | O | O | |||
| Wood Thrush | U | U | ||||
| American Robin | O | O | ||||
| Family | Species | Spring | Summer | Fall | Winter | |
| Mockingbirds and Thrashes | ||||||
| Gray Catbird | C | U | ||||
| Northern Mockingbird* |  NW | U | C | U | U | |
| Sage Thrasher | Accidental | |||||
| Brown Thrasher | U | C | U | |||
| Starlings | ||||||
| European Starling* |  NW | C | C | C | C | |
| Pipits | ||||||
| American Pipit |  NW | U | C | C | ||
| Sprague's Pipit | O | O | ||||
| Wood-warblers | ||||||
| Blue-winged Warbler | O | |||||
| Golden-wing Warbler | O | |||||
| Tennessee Warbler | C | C | ||||
| Orange-crowned Warbler |  NW | U | U | O | ||
| Nashville Warbler | U | U | ||||
| Northern Parula |  NW(female) | O | ||||
| Yellow Warbler |  NW | C | C | |||
| Chesnut-sided Warbler |  NW | U | ||||
| Magnolia Warbler |  NW | C | C | |||
| Black-throated Blue Warbler | R | |||||
| Yellow-rumped Warbler |  NW | C | U | C | ||
| Black-throated Green Warbler |  NW | C | C | |||
| Townsend's Warbler | Accidental | |||||
| Blackburnian Warbler |  NW | O | ||||
| Yellow-throated Warbler |  NW | O | ||||
| Prairie Warbler | R | |||||
| Palm Warbler |  NW | U | O | |||
| Bay-breasted Warbler |  NW | U | ||||
| Blackpoll Warbler | O | |||||
| Cerulean Warbler | R | R | ||||
| Black-and-white Warbler |  NW | C | C | |||
| American Redstart |  NW NW | U | U | |||
| Prothonotary Warbler |  NW | U | U | |||
| Worm-eating Warbler | O | |||||
| Swainson's Warbler | R | |||||
| Ovenbird | O | |||||
| Northern Waterthrush | C | C | ||||
| Louisiana Waterthrush | U | U | ||||
| Kentucky Warbler | U | |||||
| Common Yellowthroat* |  NW | C | U | C | C | |
| Hooded Warbler | U | |||||
| Wilson's Warbler | U | U | ||||
| Canada Warbler | O | |||||
| Yellow-breasted Chat | U | U | ||||
| Tanagers | ||||||
| Summer Tanager |  NW | U | U | |||
| Scarlet Tanager |  NW | U | ||||
| Sparrows and Allies | ||||||
| Eastern Towhee | U | |||||
| Chipping Sparrow | O | |||||
| Field Sparrow |  NW | U | ||||
| Vesper Sparrow | U | U | ||||
| Lark Sparrow |  NW | O | O | |||
| Black-throated Sparrow | Accidental | |||||
| Lark Bunting | Accidental | |||||
| Savannah Sparrow |  AB | A | A | A | ||
| LeConte's Sparrow | U | U | ||||
| Nelson Sharp-tailed |  NW | U | U | U | ||
| Seaside Sparrow* |  NW | C | C | C | C | |
| Song Sparrow | U | U | O | |||
| Lincoln's Sparrow |  NW | U | U | U | ||
| Swamp Sparrow |  NW | C | C | C | ||
| White-throated Sparrow |  NW | U | U | U | ||
| Harris' Sparrow | R | |||||
| White-crowned Sparrow |  MJ | U | U | U | ||
| Dark-eyed Junco |  NW | O | ||||
| Cardinals, Grosbeaks, and Allies | ||||||
| Northern Cardinal* | C | O | O | C | ||
| Rose-breasted Grosbeak |  NW | C | ||||
| Blue Grosbeak |  NW | C | C | |||
| Indigo Bunting |  | C | C | |||
| Painted Bunting* |  NW(female) | U | U | |||
| Dickcissel* |  NW | A | C | |||
| Blackbirds | ||||||
| Bobolink | R | |||||
| Red-winged Blackbird |  JB | A | A | A | A | |
| Eastern Meadowlark* |  NW | A | A | A | A | |
| Western Meadowlark | O | O | O | |||
| Yellow-headed Blackbird |  NW | R | R | |||
| Brewer's Blackbird | U | |||||
| Common Grackle |  NW | C | C | C | C | |
| Boat-tailed Grackle* |  NW | A | A | A | A | |
| Great-tailed Grackle |  NW | R | ||||
| Brown-headed Cowbird* |  NW(L-male, R-female) | C | U | C | A | |
| Orchard Oriole* |  JB(immature)  NW(adult male) | C | C | U | ||
| Baltimore Oriole |  NW | U | U | |||
| Finches | ||||||
| American Goldfinch |  NW | U | ||||
| Old World Sparrows | ||||||
| House Sparrow* | O | O | O | O |