Browse Birds

BirdWeb allows you to search for a specific bird by entering its name in the search box (above left), or to look for birds according to their taxonomic grouping. Washington's birds belong to 18 orders—large groupings of related families and species. To learn about an order and its Washington representatives, select a group from the list on the left or scroll down the page.

Waterfowl (Order Anseriformes)

The swans, geese and ducks are mid-sized to large birds most commonly found on or near water. Most have plump bodies, long necks and short wings. Most feed while on the water, diving or merely tilting their bodies so that their heads and necks are submerged to search for fish, plants and invertebrates. Washington representatives of the order all belong to one family:

Ducks, Geese and Swans (Family Anatidae)

Pheasants, Grouse, Quail and Allies (Order Galliformes)

This group, the "chicken-like" birds, consists of medium to large terrestrial birds. They are quick flyers, better adapted for short bursts of speed than sustained flight. They are fast runners and spend much of their time on the ground. Washington has two families:

Loons (Order Gaviiformes)

Loons are large, fish-eating birds with spear-shaped bills and long, thickset necks. Because their feet are set far back on their bodies, loons move only with difficulty on land. However they are expert divers, able to remain underwater for up to eight minutes and to reach depths of up to 75 meters. This order has only one family:

Loons (Family Gaviidae)

Grebes (Order Podicipediformes)

Grebes are fish-eating diving birds with squat bodies, small heads, and short tails. Their claws are flattened like fingernails, and their toes are lobed rather than webbed. All the world's grebes belong to the same family:

Grebes (Family Podicipedidae)

Albatrosses, Petrels and Allies (Order Procellariiformes)

The tube-nosed seabirds, as this group is sometimes called, spend much of their life on the high seas out of sight of land, gleaning food from the water's surface. For most, the nesting season is the only time of the year that they touch land. They are drably colored—usually gray, black, or brown, with white—and range in size from small to very large. External nostrils on the upper mandible endow these birds with an unusually well developed sense of smell and contain a gland used for excreting salt. The order has four families worldwide, of which three are represented in Washington:

Pelicans, Cormorants and Allies (Order Pelecaniformes)

These birds are aquatic, medium-sized to large, and feed on small fish and other animals found in the water. One of their most distinctive features is their feet, which have webbing between all four toes. Many have an unfeathered and sometimes brightly colored pouch of varying size at the throat. Most nest in colonies. Representatives of five of the order's six families have been found in Washington:

Herons, Ibises and Allies (Order Ciconiiformes)

The herons, ibises and allies are large birds, most with long legs and necks. Many live on or near water where they wade in search of prey. Many breed in colonies. This order has five families worldwide, of which two are represented in Washington:

New World Vultures, Hawks, Falcons and Allies (Order Falconiformes)

The hawks, eagles, falcons, and allies make up a group known as the diurnal raptors, because they are active during the day. Members of this group typically use their acute vision to catch live vertebrate prey with their strong feet and toes. They vary from medium-sized to large birds and most have an upright posture and strong, short, hooked bills. The New World vultures (not closely related to the Old World vultures) were once classified with the herons and allies, but they have provisionally been grouped with the diurnal raptors on the basis of recent genetic studies. Members of the order Falconiformes in Washington fall into three families:

Rails, Cranes and Allies (Order Gruiformes)

The order Gruiformes comprises a diverse group of mostly aquatic or marsh-dwelling birds. Despite their wet habitat, members of this order do not have webbed feet, although in some groups their strong toes are slightly webbed or lobed. Of eleven families worldwide just two are represented in Washington:

Shorebirds, Gulls, Auks and Allies (Order Charadriiformes)

This is a large and highly varied group of birds that do not have many outward similarities. Most are water birds that feed on invertebrates or small aquatic creatures. The order is well represented in Washington, with seven families:

Pigeons and Doves (Order Columbiformes)

Plump birds with dense plumage, pigeons and doves have small heads and short legs. They are predominantly buff or gray, but many species have colorful accents on the neck, head or breast. These accents are often somewhat more prominent in males, but sexes are generally similar. This order has a single family:

Pigeons and Doves (Family Columbidae)

Cuckoos and Allies (Order Cuculiformes)

This group consists of small to medium-sized, slender birds with long tails and downcurved bills. They have zygodactyl feet, which means they have two toes pointing forward and two pointing backward on each foot. Only one family occurs in Washington:

Cuckoos (Family Cuculidae)

Owls (Order Strigiformes)

Owls have an upright posture, large heads, forward-facing eyes, and strong, sharp bills with a pronounced downward curve. Most are nocturnal or semi-nocturnal. Exceptional low-light vision and keen directional hearing enable them to pinpoint the location of prey. Owls typically have extensive feathering, with feathers often extending to the tips of the toes. Cryptically colored and patterned plumage helps to camouflage them as they rest by day. Their dense, soft feathers allow them to fly silently. The world's two owl families are both represented in Washington:

Goatsuckers and Allies (Order Caprimulgiformes)

Adapted for aerial insect foraging, most members of this unusual group have a short, weak bill with bristles at the base and a very large mouth opening. Typically nocturnal or crepuscular (active at dusk and dawn), they are more often seen than heard, as their calls pierce the night loudly and repeatedly. During the day they rest quietly on the ground or on a branch. Their soft plumage is usually brown or gray and highly cryptic. The name goatsucker comes from an ancient Greek myth that claimed they suckled milk from goats. This myth is unfounded and perhaps started as an explanation for the birds’ wide gapes and their low flight over pastures in the evenings. Just one family is found in Washington:

Nighthawks and Poorwills (Family Caprimulgidae)

Swifts and Hummingbirds (Order Apodiformes)

The order, Apodiformes, contains the swifts and hummingbirds, birds that at first glance seem to have little in common. Both groups, however, are similar in the structure of their wings, modified for very rapid movement and both have tiny legs. Both swifts and hummingbirds also have only 10 tail feathers, not 12 like most other birds, and they share similarities in cranial structure. Swifts are found over much of the world, but hummingbirds are found only in the Americas. Both families are represented in Washington:

Kingfishers and Allies (Order Coraciiformes)

Members of this group of small to medium-sized stocky birds typically have large heads and small feet. Their most distinctive trait is the partial fusion of two toes in an arrangement known as syndactyly. The order includes familes as diverse as the rollers of the Old World and the motmots of the tropical Americas, but only one family reaches Washington:

Kingfishers (Family Alcedinidae)

Woodpeckers and Allies (Order Piciformes)

Most birds in this group are adapted for climbing and perching in trees and range widely in size. The feet of most species have two toes pointing forward and two pointing back, a special adaptation for trunk-climbing known as a zygodactyl arrangement. The order includes families as diverse as the puffbirds and the toucans, but only the woodpecker family is found in Washington:

Woodpeckers (Family Picidae)

Flycatchers, Songbirds and Allies (Order Passeriformes)

Members of this diverse group make up more than half of the bird species worldwide. Most are small. However their brains are relatively large and their learning abilities are greater than those of most other birds. Passerine birds are divided into two suborders, the suboscines and the oscines. Oscines are capable of more complex song, and are considered the true songbirds. In Washington, the tyrant flycatchers are the only suboscines; the remaining 27 families are oscines.