The Members Only section contains a printable checklist (PDF formatted for 8 1/2 x 11″, 2 sides) of the Birds of Connecticut. You must log in and have a current account to access it.
The list below includes the 452 bird species recorded in Connecticut and accepted by the Avian Records Committee of Connecticut (ARCC). The names and sequences of species follow the A.O.S. Checklist of the Birds of North America (7th ed. 1998 and supplements to the 66th, July 1, 2025). Note: (Hoary Redpoll was lumped with Common Redpoll in 2024 and has been removed from the list)
The Checklist of the Birds of Connecticut
| Legend: * Rare in CT – ARCC requests details, (S) Sight record only, (I) Introduced, (EX) Extirpated, (E) Extinct |
| Ducks, Geese, Swans (45) Black-bellied Whistling-Duck* Fulvous Whistling-Duck* Snow Goose Ross’s Goose* Graylag Goose* Greater White-fronted Goose Pink-footed Goose Brant Barnacle Goose* Cackling Goose Canada Goose Mute Swan (I) Trumpeter Swan* Tundra Swan Wood Duck Blue-winged Teal Cinnamon Teal* Northern Shoveler Gadwall Eurasian Wigeon American Wigeon Mallard American Black Duck Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Canvasback Redhead Ring-necked Duck Tufted Duck* Greater Scaup Lesser Scaup King Eider Common Eider Harlequin Duck Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Long-tailed Duck Bufflehead Common Goldeneye Barrow’s Goldeneye Hooded Merganser Common Merganser Red-breasted Merganser Ruddy Duck New World Quail (1) Northern Bobwhite (EX) Partridges, Grouse, Turkeys (3) Wild Turkey Ruffed Grouse Ring-necked Pheasant (I) (EX) Grebes (5) Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Eared Grebe* Western Grebe* Pigeons, Doves (6) Rock Pigeon (I) Band-tailed Pigeon* (S) Eurasian Collared-Dove* Common Ground-Dove* White-winged Dove* Mourning Dove Cuckoos (2) Yellow-billed Cuckoo Black-billed Cuckoo Goatsuckers (3) Common Nighthawk Chuck-will’s-widow* Eastern Whip-poor-will Swifts (1) Chimney Swift Hummingbirds (6) Mexican Violetear* Ruby-throated Hummingbird Black-chinned Hummingbird* Calliope Hummingbird* Rufous Hummingbird Broad-billed Hummingbird* Rails, Gallinules, Coots (10) King Rail Clapper Rail Virginia Rail Corn Crake* Sora Common Gallinule American Coot Purple Gallinule* Yellow Rail* Black Rail* Cranes (1) Sandhill Crane Stilts, Avocets (2) Black-necked Stilt* American Avocet Oystercatchers (1) American Oystercatcher Lapwings, Plovers (10) Black-bellied Plover American Golden-Plover Pacific Golden-Plover* Killdeer Common Ringed Plover* (S) Semipalmated Plover Piping Plover Northern Lapwing* Wilson’s Plover* Kentish Plover* Sandpipers, Phalaropes (38) Upland Sandpiper Whimbrel Long-billed Curlew* Bar-tailed Godwit* Black-tailed Godwit* Hudsonian Godwit Marbled Godwit Ruddy Turnstone Red Knot Ruff* Sharp-tailed Sandpiper* Stilt Sandpiper Curlew Sandpiper* Red-necked Stint* Sanderling Dunlin Purple Sandpiper Baird’s Sandpiper Little Stint* (S) Least Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper Buff-breasted Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper Western Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Long-billed Dowitcher American Woodcock Wilson’s Snipe Spotted Sandpiper Solitary Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs Willet Spotted Redshank* Greater Yellowlegs Wilson’s Phalarope Red-necked Phalarope Red Phalarope* Skuas, Jaegers (3) Pomarine Jaeger* (S) Parasitic Jaeger Long-tailed Jaeger* Auks, Murres, Puffins (3) Dovekie* Common Murre* Thick-billed Murre* Razorbill Black Guillemot* Atlantic Puffin* Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (33) Black-legged Kittiwake* Ivory Gull* (S) Sabine’s Gull* Bonaparte’s Gull Black-headed Gull Little Gull* Ross’s Gull* Laughing Gull Franklin’s Gull* Common Gull* Short-billed Gull* Ring-billed Gull California Gull* American Herring Gull Vega Gull* Iceland Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull | Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (continued) Slaty-backed Gull* Glaucous Gull Great Black-backed Gull Sooty Tern* Bridled Tern* Least Tern Gull-billed Tern* Caspian Tern Black Tern Roseate Tern Common Tern Arctic Tern* Forster’s Tern Royal Tern Sandwich Tern* Black Skimmer Tropicbirds (1) White-tailed Tropicbird* Loons (3) Red-throated Loon Pacific Loon* Common Loon Storm-Petrels (4) Wilson’s Storm-Petrel White-faced Storm-Petrel* Leach’s Storm-Petrel* Band-rumped Storm-Petrel* (S) Shearwaters, Petrels (7) Northern Fulmar* Black-capped Petrel* Cory’s Shearwater* Sooty Shearwater* Great Shearwater* Manx Shearwater* (S) Sargasso (Audubon’s) Shearwater* (S) Storks (1) Wood Stork* Frigatebirds (1) Magnificent Frigatebird* Gannets (2) Brown Booby* Northern Gannet Darters (1) Anhinga* Cormorants (2) Great Cormorant Double-crested Cormorant Pelicans (2) American White Pelican Brown Pelican* Bitterns, Herons (12) Least Bittern American Bittern Little Blue Heron Tricolored Heron Snowy Egret Little Egret* Black-crowned Night Heron Yellow-crowned Night Heron Green Heron Great Egret Western Cattle Egret Great Blue Heron Ibises (4) White Ibis* Glossy Ibis White-faced Ibis Roseate Spoonbill* New World Vultures (2) Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Ospreys (1) Osprey Hawks, Kites, Eagles (15) White-tailed Kite* Swallow-tailed Kite* Golden Eagle Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper’s Hawk American Goshawk Bald Eagle Mississippi Kite Red-shouldered Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Swainson’s Hawk* Zone-tailed Hawk* Red-tailed Hawk Rough-legged Hawk Barn Owl (1) American Barn Owl Typical Owls (11) Eastern Screech-Owl Great Horned Owl Snowy Owl Northern Hawk Owl* Burrowing Owl* Barred Owl Great Gray Owl* Long-eared Owl Short-eared Owl Boreal Owl* Northern Saw-whet Owl Kingfishers (1) Belted Kingfisher Woodpeckers (8) Red-headed Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Black-backed Woodpecker* Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Caracaras, Falcons (5) Crested Caracara* American Kestrel Merlin Gyrfalcon* Peregrine Falcon Parrots (1) Monk Parakeet (I) Tyrant Flycatchers (19) Ash-throated Flycatcher* Great Crested Flycatcher Tropical Kingbird* Cassin’s Kingbird* (Pending review) Western Kingbird Eastern Kingbird Gray Kingbird* Scissor-tailed Flycatcher* Fork-tailed Flycatcher* Olive-sided Flycatcher Eastern Wood-Pewee Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Acadian Flycatcher Alder Flycatcher Willow Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Gray Flycatcher* Western Flycatcher* Eastern Phoebe Say’s Phoebe* Vireos (8) White-eyed Vireo Bell’s Vireo* Yellow-throated Vireo Blue-headed Vireo Philadelphia Vireo Eastern Warbling-Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Yellow-green Vireo* Shrikes (2) Loggerhead Shrike* Northern Shrike Crows, Jays (5) Blue Jay Eurasian Jackdaw* American Crow Fish Crow Common Raven Chickadees and Titmice (3) Black-capped Chickadee Boreal Chickadee* Tufted Titmouse | Larks (1) Horned Lark Swallows (9) Bank Swallow Tree Swallow Violet-green Swallow* (S) Northern Rough-winged Swallow Brown-chested Martin* (S) Purple Martin Barn Swallow Cliff Swallow Cave Swallow Kinglets (2) Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Waxwings (2) Bohemian Waxwing* Cedar Waxwing Nuthatches (2) Red-breasted Nuthatch White-breasted Nuthatch Creepers (1) Brown Creeper Gnatcatchers (1) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Wrens (5) Carolina Wren Northern House Wren Winter Wren Sedge Wren Marsh Wren Mockingbirds, Thrashers (3) Gray Catbird Brown Thrasher Northern Mockingbird Starlings (1) European Starling (I) Thrushes (12) Eastern Bluebird Mountain Bluebird* Townsend’s Solitaire* Veery Gray-cheeked Thrush Bicknell’s Thrush** Swainson’s Thrush Hermit Thrush Wood Thrush Fieldfare* American Robin Varied Thrush* Old World Flycatchers (1) Northern Wheatear* Old World Sparrows (2) House Sparrow (I) Eurasian Tree Sparrow* Wagtails, Pipits (2) American Pipit Sprague’s Pipit* Finches and Allies (10) Brambling* Evening Grosbeak Pine Grosbeak* House Finch Purple Finch Redpoll Red Crossbill White-winged Crossbill Pine Siskin American Goldfinch Longspurs, Snow Buntings (4) Lapland Longspur Chestnut-collared Longspur* Smith’s Longspur* Snow Bunting Towhees, Sparrows (27) Grasshopper Sparrow Lark Sparrow Lark Bunting* Chipping Sparrow Clay-colored Sparrow Field Sparrow Brewer’s Sparrow* Fox Sparrow American Tree Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco White-crowned Sparrow Golden-crowned Sparrow* (S) Harris’s Sparrow* White-throated Sparrow Vesper Sparrow LeConte’s Sparrow* Seaside Sparrow Nelson’s Sparrow Saltmarsh Sparrow Henslow’s Sparrow* Savannah Sparrow Song Sparrow Lincoln’s Sparrow Swamp Sparrow Green-tailed Towhee* Spotted Towhee* Eastern Towhee Yellow-breasted Chats (1) Yellow-breasted Chat Blackbirds, Orioles (14) Yellow-headed Blackbird Bobolink Eastern Meadowlark Western Meadowlark* Orchard Oriole Bullock’s Oriole* Baltimore Oriole Black-backed Oriole* (S) Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Rusty Blackbird Brewer’s Blackbird* (S) Common Grackle Boat-tailed Grackle Wood-Warblers (39) Ovenbird Worm-eating Warbler Louisiana Waterthrush Northern Waterthrush Golden-winged Warbler Blue-winged Warbler Black-and-white Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Tennessee Warbler Orange-crowned Warbler Nashville Warbler Connecticut Warbler MacGillivray’s Warbler* (S) Mourning Warbler Kentucky Warbler Common Yellowthroat Hooded Warbler American Redstart Cape May Warbler Cerulean Warbler Northern Parula Magnolia Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Palm Warbler Pine Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Yellow-throated Warbler Prairie Warbler Black-throated Gray Warbler* Townsend’s Warbler* Hermit Warbler* Black-throated Green Warbler Canada Warbler Wilson’s Warbler Cardinals, Tanagers (11) Summer Tanager Scarlet Tanager Western Tanager* Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak Black-headed Grosbeak* Blue Grosbeak Lazuli Bunting* Indigo Bunting Painted Bunting Dickcissel ** Details needed only for recordings and banding records. |
| Extinct (E) or Extirpated (EX) (7 species): Labrador Duck (E), Gray Partridge (EX), Eskimo Curlew (E), Greater Prairie-Chicken (Heath Hen subspecies) (E), Passenger Pigeon (E). Native populations of Northern Bobwhite (EX). Breeding Populations of Ring-necked Pheasant (EX). |
Updated 12/14/25 by Frank Gallo