Field Guide

Birds

Showing 41 - 50 of 52 results
Media
large gray and white bird perching on a black branch
Species Types
Scientific Name
Accipiter cooperii
Description
Cooper's hawks have short, rounded wings and long, narrow, rudderlike tails. They are frequently seen foraging along hedgerows and brush-entangled fencerows.
Media
Photo of a barn swallow in flight.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Hirundo rustica
Description
Streamlined, agile fliers with forked tails, barn swallows build cup-shaped nests out of mud affixed to protected areas on the walls of barns and under bridges.
Media
Photo of three cliff swallow nests attached to the soffit of a building, with a parent attending.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Petrechelidon pyrrhonota
Description
Cliff swallows fly in swarms around their clusters of juglike mud nests attached to overpasses, bridges, and other structures. Note the whitish forehead, buffy rump patch, and chestnut throat.
Media
Photo of a Wilson's snipe, a pudgy, long-billed bird, wading in a marsh.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Gallinago delicata
Description
Wilson’s snipe, formerly called the common snipe, is a migratory game bird in Missouri. Like its relative the woodcock, this member of the sandpiper family is not usually seen on mudflats. It prefers swamps and wet, grassy areas.
Media
photo of a wood duck
Species Types
Scientific Name
Aix sponsa
Description
The wood duck is one of the world's most beautiful waterfowl. It is equally famous for being a cavity nester in hollow trees, sometimes 60 feet above the ground and a mile away from water.
Media
Photo of male and female mallards walking on ice
Species Types
Scientific Name
Anas platyrhynchos
Description
The mallard is probably the most familiar duck in all of North America. The male has a green head and chestnut breast. Both sexes have a blue speculum (wing patch) bordered on both sides by white.
Media
Photo of a ring-billed gull standing on a rock, water in background.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Larus delawarensis
Description
The ring-billed gull is Missouri’s most common gull. Adults can be told from our other most common gulls by their yellow legs and yellow bill with a black ring near the tip.
Media
Image of a male scarlet tanager
Species Types
Scientific Name
Piranga olivacea
Description
In summer, scarlet tanagers feed on insects and fruit in the canopy of oak-hickory forests and in large shade trees of the eastern U.S. and southern Canada.
Media
Black-necked stilt wading in shallow water
Species Types
Scientific Name
Himantopus mexicanus
Description
The black-necked stilt migrates through Missouri in spring and fall. In summer, it breeds locally in the Bootheel. It’s easy to identify, with its black back, white belly, long pink legs, and long, thin, straight bill.
Media
Bank swallow perched on wooden rail
Species Types
Scientific Name
Riparia riparia
Description
Bank swallows are brown above and white below, with a dark brown band across the breast. In Missouri, they are a locally common summer resident, nesting in holes they excavate in steep mud embankments.
See Also
Media
Photo of a Snowberry Clearwing
Species Types
Scientific Name
Hemaris diffinis
Description
The snowberry clearwing is a moth that confuses people because it looks like a bumblebee and flies like a hummingbird!
Media
White-Lined Sphinx Moth
Species Types
Scientific Name
Hyles lineata
Description
The white-lined sphinx moth sometimes confuses people because it flies, hovers, and eats from flowers like a hummingbird. The adults often fly during daylight hours as well as in the night and are often found at lights.
Media
Photo of a Virginia Creeper Sphinx moth
Species Types
Scientific Name
Darapsa myron
Description
The Virginia creeper sphinx moth is common in woods and brushy areas and comes to lights at night. The larvae eat Virginia creeper and grape leaves.
Media
Photo of a tricolored bat hanging from a cave ceiling.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Perimyotis subflavus (formerly Pipistrellus subflavus)
Description
Tri-colored bats, formerly called eastern pipistrelles, are relatively small and look pale yellowish or pale reddish brown. The main hairs are dark gray at the base, broadly banded with yellowish brown, and tipped with dark brown.
Media
Photo of four gray myotises clinging to a cave ceiling.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Myotis grisescens
Description
Gray myotises are difficult to distinguish from other mouse-eared bats. A key identifying feature of the gray myotis is that its wing is attached to the ankle and not at the base of the toes. It’s an endangered species.
Media
Photo of a little brown myotis hanging from cave wall with lesions on its wrist.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Myotis lucifugus
Description
The little brown myotis (little brown bat) is one of our most common bats, but populations are declining. White-nose syndrome has taken a heavy toll in northeastern states. This species is now listed as vulnerable across its range.
Media
Photo of an Indiana myotis hanging from a cave ceiling.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Myotis sodalis
Description
The Indiana myotis, or Indiana bat, summers along streams and rivers in north Missouri, raising its young under the bark of certain trees. It is an endangered species.

About Birds in Missouri

About 350 species of birds are likely to be seen in Missouri, though nearly 400 have been recorded within our borders. Most people know a bird when they see one — it has feathers, wings, and a bill. Birds are warm-blooded, and most species can fly. Many migrate hundreds or thousands of miles. Birds lay hard-shelled eggs (often in a nest), and the parents care for the young. Many communicate with songs and calls.