Birds of New Hampshire: The Official State Checklist
Last checked November 3, 2026 against official sources.
New Hampshire Fish and Game Department: The 186 bird species that breed regularly in New Hampshire are included in three tables above
This page lists 208 birds: 186 from New Hampshire Fish and Game Department's New Hampshire Breeding Birds - Trend Tables; NH SGCN and Assessment Need Species and 22 named in other official sources. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department gives a total of 186; the 208 here are the birds official sources name one by one.
All 208 birds on the list
- Alder Flycatcher
- American Bittern
- American Black Duck Anas rubripes
- American Crow
- American Goldfinch
- American Kestrel Falco sparverius
- American Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus
- American Pipit Anthus rubescens
- American Redstart
- American Robin
- American Three-toed Woodpecker
- American Woodcock Scolopax minor
- Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea
- Bald Eagle
- Baltimore Oriole
- Bank Swallow Riparia riparia
- Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
- Barred Owl
- Bay-breasted Warbler Setophaga castanea
- Belted Kingfisher
- Bicknell’s Thrush Catharus bicknelli
- Black Guillemot
- Black Scoter Melanitta americana
- Black-and-white Warbler
- Black-backed Woodpecker
- Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola
- Black-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus erythropthalmus
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Black-throated Blue Warbler
- Black-throated Green Warbler
- Blackburnian Warbler
- Blackpoll Warbler Setophaga striata
- Blue Jay
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
- Blue-headed Vireo
- Blue-winged Warbler Vermivora cyanoptera
- Bobolink Dolichonyx oryzivorus
- Boreal Chickadee
- Boreal owl
- Broad-winged Hawk
- Brown Creeper
- Brown Thrasher Toxostoma rufum
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Canada Goose
- Canada Warbler Cardellina canadensis
- Cape May Warbler Setophaga tigrina
- Carolina Wren
- Cedar Waxwing
- Cerulean Warbler Setophaga cerulea
- Chestnut-sided Warbler
- Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica
- Chipping Sparrow
- Cliff Swallow Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
- Common Eider Somateria mollissima
- Common Goldeneye
- Common Grackle Quiscalus quiscula
- Common Loon Gavia immer
- Common Merganser
- Common Moorhen
- Common Nighthawk Chordeiles minor
- Common Raven
- Common Tern Sterna hirundo
- Common Yellowthroat
- Cooper’s Hawk
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Downy Woodpecker
- Eastern Bluebird
- Eastern Kingbird Tyrannus tyrannus
- Eastern Meadowlark Sturnella magna
- Eastern Phoebe
- Eastern Screech-Owl
- Eastern Towhee Pipilo erytrophthalmus
- Eastern Wood-Pewee
- European Starling
- Evening Grosbeak Coccothraustes vespertinus
- Field Sparrow Spizella pusilla
- Fish Crow
- Golden Eagle (Eastern pop.) Aquila chrysaetos
- Golden-crowned Kinglet
- Golden-winged Warbler
- Grasshopper Sparrow Ammodramus savannarum
- Gray Catbird
- Gray Jay
- Great Black-backed Gull
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Great gray owl
- Great Horned Owl
- Green Heron
- Green-winged Teal
- Gyrfalcon
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Hermit Thrush
- Herring Gull
- Hooded Merganser
- Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris
- House Finch
- House Sparrow
- House Wren
- Indigo Bunting
- Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
- Least Bittern Ixobrychus exilis
- Least Flycatcher Empidonax minimus
- Least Tern Sternula antillarum
- Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
- Lincoln’s Sparrow
- Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis
- Louisiana Waterthrush
- Magnolia Warbler
- Mallard
- Marsh Wren
- Merlin
- Mourning Dove
- Mourning Warbler
- Mute Swan
- Nashville Warbler Leiothlypis ruficapilla
- Nelson's Sparrow Ammospiza nelsoni subvirgata
- Northern Cardinal
- Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus
- Northern Goshawk Accipiter atricapillus
- Northern Harrier Circus cyaneus
- Northern hawk owl
- Northern Mockingbird
- Northern Parula
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow
- Northern Saw-whet Owl
- Northern Waterthrush
- Olive-sided Flycatcher Contopus cooperi
- Orchard Oriole
- Osprey
- Ovenbird
- Palm Warbler
- Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotus
- Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
- Philadelphia Vireo
- Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Pine Siskin
- Pine Warbler
- Piping Plover Charadrius melodus
- Prairie Warbler Setophaga discolor
- Purple Finch
- Purple Martin Progne subis
- Purple Sandpiper Calidris maritima
- Red Crossbill
- Red Knot Calidris canutus rufa
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Red-eyed Vireo
- Red-shouldered Hawk
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Ring-necked Duck
- Rock Pigeon
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii
- Rough-legged hawk
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
- Ruffed Grouse Bonasa umbellus
- Rusty Blackbird Euphagus carolinus
- Saltmarsh Sparrow Ammospiza caudacuta
- Sanderling Calidris alba
- Savannah Sparrow
- Scarlet Tanager Piranga olivacea
- Seaside Sparrow
- Sedge Wren
- Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus
- Snowy owl
- Song Sparrow
- Sora Porzana carolina
- Spotted Sandpiper Actitus macularius
- Spruce Grouse Canachites canadensis
- Swainson’s Thrush
- Swamp Sparrow
- Tennessee Warbler Leiothlypis peregrina
- Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor
- Tufted Titmouse
- Turkey Vulture
- Upland Sandpiper Bartramia longicauda
- Veery
- Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus
- Virginia Rail
- Warbling Vireo
- Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus
- Whip-poor-will Antrostomus vociferus
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- White-rumped Sandpiper Calidris fuscicolis
- White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis
- White-winged Crossbill
- Wild Turkey
- Willet Tringa semipalmata
- Willow Flycatcher
- Wilson’s Snipe
- Wilson’s Warbler
- Winter Wren
- Wood Duck
- Wood Thrush Hylocichla mustelina
- Yellow Warbler
- Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
- Yellow-billed Cuckoo
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Yellow-throated Vireo
When birds are active in New Hampshire
Records of birds in New Hampshire peak in April to July and September. They show when people record birds, not how many there are (about month bars).
- Bird feeders should come down by April 1 and go back up no earlier than December 1 because of bears. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department
How to report
NH Fish and Game Wildlife Division (603) 271-2461; Law Enforcement (603) 271-3361. Invasive insects: NHBugs reporting form (nhbugs.org/reporting-form). Stranded marine animals: Seacoast Science Center (603) 997-9448 or the Northeast hotline (866) 755-6622. Sharks: Northeast Shark Hotline (401) 859-1043. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department
About this list
The species list comes from New Hampshire Breeding Birds - Trend Tables; NH SGCN and Assessment Need Species (2025) (New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, Internet Archive capture 2018-01-15 of the old-site official page; SGCN list 2025). 22 more entries come from other official sources named on each card.
Venom does not apply to birds.
Sources
- Snakes of NH (old site page). New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. archived copy, captured August 1, 2023; checked November 3, 2026.
- Breeding Bird Trends (old site). New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. archived copy, captured January 15, 2018; checked November 3, 2026.
Quoted passages (1)
“The 186 bird species that breed regularly in New Hampshire are included in three tables above”
- New Hampshire Species of Greatest Conservation Need (2025). New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. archived copy, captured October 15, 2026; checked November 3, 2026.
- Species Occurring in NH. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. archived copy, captured September 18, 2026; checked November 3, 2026.
- Wildlife FAQs. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. archived copy, captured August 1, 2023; checked November 3, 2026.
Quoted passages (2)
“Bird feeders should be taken down by April 1 of each year -- and they should not be put up again until December 1 or later.”
“Wildlife Division - (603) 271-2461”
- GBIF.org occurrence records, human observations licensed CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, accessed November 3, 2026. The datasets behind these counts are listed on our Sources page.