Seasonal List of the Standard Birds of Missouri
The following charts list those bird species that tend to occur in Missouri every year. The sequence and the groupings of the names are based on the species' genetic relationships to each other. The same arrangement will be found in field guides and other bird lists.
Group: The group name shown vertically on the left is generally the common name of the order or family to which the species is classified. Order names are used from the beginning of the chart through woodpeckers. The remainder of the chart, beginning with flycatchers, is the Order commonly referred to as "songbirds." The species within this Order are grouped in Families.
Species Name: The names used are the official common names as designated by the American Ornithologists' Union. These are occasionally changed as more is learned about a species' genetics.
Seasonal Status: Following each species' name is a bar that indicates when the species occurs in Missouri, seasonally. A bar that extends through the summer months (the nesting season) indicates that the species is a regular breeder in Missouri.
Abundance Status: The height of the bar indicates the species' relative abundance during a particular time of the year. There are four different heights that correspond, generally, to the frequency with which the species might be detected in the habitat where it is most likely to be found. Bar height from thickest to thinnest indicates:
- Abundant; several likely to be detected on every visit.
- Common; at least a few detected on most visits.
- Uncommon; detected on fewer than half of the visits.
- Rare; detected on fewer than one out of ten visits.
Habitat Association: The bar is color coded to indicate in which of the habitats (described on pages 8 and 9) the species is most likely found. Realize that some species are specialized to a particular habitat, while others occur in more than one.
Regional Distribution: A symbol to the right of the bar indicates the region of Missouri where the species is most likely to be seen.
