Searching for Birds FEBRUARY 12, 2026 10 MIN READ Concept, analysis, design, and development by Nadieh Bremer | Visual Cinnamon Story writing and editing by Emily Barone | The Data Desk Sponsored by Google Trends — Photo library courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library Winter months are dreary in New York City, but perhaps none so much as January 2021. Cold air and gray clouds blew between the skyscrapers as the world below remained stuck in the pandemic’s icy grip. But that month, a small corner of the city briefly came alive when a majestic Snowy Owl appeared in Central Park. Bird fanatics and dozens of other intrigued New Yorkers ventured out of their homes, hoping to catch a glimpse. As word spread, so, too, did people’s curiosity. In New York City, Google searches for the term Snowy Owl spiked as residents wanted to learn about the species — and how one ended up in their backyard. New York’s Snowy Owl was as much a story about one special bird as the humans who took notice of it. Relative search interest [ 100 = highest ] 0 20 40 60 80 100 Jul 2020 Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan 2021 Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul 2021 Search Interest for “Snowy Owl” in New York City Search activity spiked when a Snowy Owl visited Central Park in late January 2021. Chart: Snowy Owl Search Interest A line chart showing the relative Google search interest for "Snowy Owl" in New York. The interest spikes dramatically in January 2021, reaching a peak of 100, coinciding with the appearance of a Snowy Owl in Central Park. Prior to this event, interest was negligible. Google search data, which is available through the company’s Google Trends database, can show us which birds capture our attention. Google Trends categorizes search terms based on their meaning. For instance, cardinals, orioles, ducks and falcons could refer to either sports teams or birds, but Google generally distinguishes between the helmeted kind and the winged kind. (This story will point out the rare instances when meanings get muddled.) As you scroll through the following interactive graphics, you’ll get a glimpse at roughly 700 North American and Hawaiian species and learn about why some of them make us fall in love. Let’s see what search trends tell us about our relationship with our feathered friends. PART ONE I Am Not a Bird Person It’s kind of intimidating how many birds there are. Not in a menacing, Alfred Hitchcock sense, but in an awe-inspiring sense. If you’ve ever cracked open a birding guidebook, you may have felt overwhelmed by the staggering variety of shapes and colors. The thing is, even if you don’t consider yourself a “bird person,” you inherently know enough about birds to describe an unfamiliar species in familiar terms. You might characterize a loon as a duck, or a falcon as a hawk. These shortcuts stem from a recognition of similar shapes, environments and behaviors — even if the unfamiliar bird actually belongs to an entirely separate family. That’s why there are more searches for general bird terms, like duck or hawk (or owl or parrot) than for individual species names. Within the nest below you can find the most Googled birds in the U.S. over the last five years, based on their general “type.” AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DC DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY Hover over a state to see the top 25 most searched birds. 1 ● Hawk 2 ● Eagle 3 ● Duck 4 ● Owl 5 ● Goose 6 ● Pigeon 7 ● Parrot 8 ● Finch 9 ● Woodpecker Swallow ● 10 Heron ● 11 Hummingbird ● 12 Cardinal ● 13 Jay ● 14 Falcon ● 15 Sparrow ● 16 Dove ● 17 Crane ● 18 Warbler ● 19 Starling ● 20 Wren ● 21 Oriole ● 22 Chickadee ● 23 Swift ● 24 Cuckoo ● 25 Most Googledbirds in the Eggs are sized accordingto Google Trend interest The states with Hawk as their most searched bird group United States Searches for the city and/or county of Kingfisher in Oklahoma put the bird name at No. 2. The popularity of No. 3 Plover in Wisconsin likely stems from searches for the village of Plover Visualization: Most Searched Bird Groups A circular visualization depicting a bird nest containing eggs. Each egg represents a general bird type (like "Hawk", "Eagle", "Duck"). The size of the egg corresponds to its search popularity. The largest eggs are Hawk, Eagle, and Duck, indicating they are the most searched bird terms. Other visible groups include Owl, Parrot, and Falcon. Ornithologists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology know that humans use clues to identify birds, which is why their online guide, All About Birds, is searchable by location, keywords and even bird shape. As of October 2025, the All About Birds database had grouped over 700 species into 76 general “types” of birds. These “type” categories are the basis for the Google search terms shown in the nest. The rankings reflect average search interest over the past five years at the U.S. national and state levels. Countrywide, two birds of prey — hawk and eagle — get the most searches. They each take the No. 1 search spot in a dozen states. Duck comes in third nationally, but it has the broadest state-level interest, taking the top spot in 17 states. For many people, bird identification doesn’t stretch much beyond these general bird categories. But being a “birder,” a “birdwatcher,” or a “bird person” doesn’t require encyclopedic knowledge of bird names. In fact, it doesn’t require much of anything. There’s a brand of birding that fosters a gentle approach of simply noticing and observing birds for nothing other than the joy of doing so — no deeper knowledge or superzoom cameras required. Over the last decade, birding has become a more inclusive activity, with organizations popping up around the country to cater to people of all backgrounds and abilities. The mission of these groups is to cultivate communities of birders who don’t necessarily identify with the hard-core, rare-bird-chasing crowd. But once you begin to notice birds, there’s a good chance you’ll see one that changes everything. PART TWO The Spark Bird It might seem challenging to get from “duck” to the more specific Green-winged Teal. But the identification process starts with a simple step: caring to know a bird’s name in the first place. Often, this happens after a particular encounter with a very special bird — a so-called “spark bird.” A spark bird is the catalyst to wanting to discover more. Every spark bird is personal because people are moved by birds for different reasons. Sometimes it’s the flash of color or striking patterns of the feathers. Other times it’s a mesmerizing behavior or an unexpectedly close encounter. But whatever the case, a spark bird becomes the gateway to identifying other birds. Here’s one way to think about their role in that learning process: Interactive: Bird Shapes to Species An interactive chart exploring bird categorization. It starts as a single large egg representing all American birds. As you scroll, it subdivides into 25 general shapes (like "Duck-like" or "Hawk-like"), then further into 76 distinct types, and finally reveals individual species. The visualization highlights that while there are hundreds of species, only 98 have significant Google search interest, with most user interest concentrated on general terms rather than specific species. American birds Let’s say this egg represents all of the birds in North America and the Hawaiian Islands. It can be divided into roughly 700 different species. One of them just stole your heart. It’s your spark bird. Bird shapes You don’t yet know the name of your spark bird, but you can recognize its general shape, like a hawk or a duck or a hummingbird. North American birds can be categorized into 25 shapes, according to the All About Birds classification. Bird types Those shapes can then be split into 76 types. For instance, geese and swans have some resemblance to ducks, but they are different enough to have their own subgroups. Names may start to sound obscure at this point —like jaegers, pipits and shrikes — but it’s all part of narrowing your search. Bird species By exploring the areas of the egg that seem close to your spark bird, you’ll soon identify it. Hover over any bird in the egg to see more information. Click on a bird to see its full profile in the All About Birds guide (opens in a new tab). What we search for Once you have found your spark bird, you may wonder if other people are curious about this amazing bird as well. As striking as your spark bird may be, there is a good chance it’s not getting a lot of interest from the general public — and especially if it’s rarely spotted in the U.S. (like the Flame-colored Tanager), well camouflaged (like the American Bittern), or hard to access (like the Black Rosy-Finch). In fact, Google search data shows that only 98 bird species have significant search interest across the U.S. An additional 11 birds have search interest in at least one state. Here’s a look at the egg with those high interest birds highlighted in various colors according to their type. Birds with measurable Google search interest Solid | Popular across the US Striped | Popular in at least one state The colorful areas of the egg spotlight the birds that pique our interest. For instance, we frequently Google species of hawks, owls and other raptors. We also can’t get enough of the woodpeckers. It figures that we, collectively, are curious about these birds given their fascinating abilities and behaviors. Grouping birds, either by shape or family, is both an art and a science. Whether a species belongs with one group versus another can be a matter of debate. We also often search for species of game birds and ducks, particularly the hunting breeds like the Northern Pintail and the Wood Duck. We love Northern Cardinals and Blue Jays, with their eye-catching shades of reds and blues. And we gravitate to the elegant silhouettes of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons. On the other hand, it seems we don’t tend to search for species of gulls, terns and seabirds. Perhaps this is because more than half of the U.S. population doesn’t live near a shore. Furthermore, seabirds can be tricky to distinguish, so we are less likely to search for their species names and instead fall back on general labels like seagull. The same case could be made for the myriad of little brown birds like sparrows, warblers and chickadees. PART THREE Find a Bird, Share a Bird The more effort you put into researching a bird’s name, the more satisfaction when you finally identify it. But the digital age is all about instant gratification. Social media allows us to share photos of birds and tap into online communities for identification help. A growing number of apps including Merlin Bird ID (created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology), Seek (by iNaturalist) and Birda use photo identification technology and artificial intelligence to instantly suggest possible bird species based on photos, even if they’re blurry. Merlin takes things a step further, offering possible identifications based on birdsong recordings. Oftentimes, though, we don’t have our phones at the ready, especially during spontaneous bird encounters. In those cases, we need to rely on our memory of a bird in order to identify it. Reaching out to the birder community (in person or on digital forums) can help narrow the search. So, too, can chatbots, like this one from Google’s Gemini: "SPARK BIRD" AI ASSISTANT Hello! I'm your AI bird expert. I can help you in two ways: IDENTIFY A BIRD: I can try to figure out what U.S. bird you saw. Please describe what you remember about the bird: its colors, its rough size, where you saw it and any other details you can remember. “There was a bright red bird with black around the beak and eyes at my bird feeder.” “I saw a large bird with a white head and tail soaring over a lake in Washington.” “I spotted a dark bird with pink wings and underbelly on a rocky cliff in the Colorado mountains.” LEARN ABOUT A BIRD: Ask me about a specific U.S. bird to get more information, such as breeding season, population, Google Trend ranking and more. “I want to know more about the Cedar Waxwing” “Tell me about the Burrowing Owl” AI can make mistakes. Please verify important information. Digital tools don’t just benefit us; they also benefit the birds. The public eBird database, run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, has been recognized as the largest citizen science birdwatching project in the world, surpassing 2 billion bird observations in 2025. When you enter your bird sighting into the eBird app, you contribute to an enormous repository of information about population trends, migration patterns and habitat use. All of this information can help scientists identify threats to the birds and shape conservation policy. PART FOUR What We See — and What We Don’t Snowy Owls are rare. The estimated 15,000 that exist in North America stick mainly to Alaska and Canada, where they breed, and don’t often visit the lower 48 states. On the rarest of occasions, one may end up in Central Park. Snowy Owls are the 465th most observed species on eBird and they rank 554th for total North American population, according to Partners in Flight, which maintains an Avian Conservation Assessment database. That puts Snowy Owls toward the bottom of the list of North American birds. But, despite their obscurity, Snowy Owl is the 20th most Googled bird species in the U.S. Other elusive birds, particularly owls like the Great Horned Owl and the American Barn Owl, also make the top 20. The chart below lists the 21 most searched birds in the U.S. (middle column) compared with eBird observations (left) and U.S. and Canada populations (right). Species with significant search interest have a colored bar. These are the same birds that were highlighted in the egg, above. (A solid color bar means the species is in Google’s top 21, and a hatched bar means it ranks lower down.) ← rank: 49 𓃉 ← rank: 75 𓃉 ← rank: 27 𓃉 ← rank: 23 𓃉 ← rank: 188 𓃉 ← rank: 216 𓃉 ← rank: 414 𓃉 ← rank: 201 𓃉 ← rank: 126 𓃉 ← rank: 53 𓃉 ← rank: 58 𓃉 ← rank: 465 𓃉 𓃉 rank: 438 → 𓃉 rank: 87 → 𓃉 rank: 116 → 𓃉 rank: 333 → 𓃉 rank: 232 → 𓃉 rank: 364 → 𓃉 rank: 56 → 𓃉 rank: 207 → 𓃉 rank: 507 → 𓃉 rank: 472 → 𓃉 rank: 214 → 𓃉 rank: 375 → 𓃉 rank: 41 → 𓃉 rank: 398 → 𓃉 rank: 241 → 𓃉 rank: 554 → 𓃉 rank: 158 → Top 21 birdon Google Trends Lower-ranked birdon Google Trends Bird not significanton Google Trends Sightings recorded byeBird users in the U.S. 01 ● Northern Cardinal 23.0 Million 02 ● Mourning Dove 21.9 M 03 ● American Robin 21.8 M 04 ● American Crow 21.0 M 05 ● Blue Jay 19.1 M 06 ● Song Sparrow 16.5 M 07 ● House Finch 16.1 M 08 ● Red-winged Blackbird 15.6 M 09 ● American Goldfinch 15.2 M 10 ● Downy Woodpecker 14.9 M 11 ● European Starling 14.7 M 12 ● Canada Goose 14.4 M 13 ● Red-bellied Woodpecker 13.9 M 14 ● Mallard 13.6 M 15 ● Tufted Titmouse 12.4 M 16 ● Black-capped Chickadee 12.1 M 17 ● House Sparrow 12.0 M 18 ● Carolina Wren 11.8 M 19 ● Turkey Vulture 11.7 M 20 ● White-breasted Nuthatch 11.5 M 21 ● Northern Flicker 11.0 M Estimated U.S. &Canada population American Robin ● 01 370 Million Blue-gray Gnatcatcher ● 02 230 M Chipping Sparrow ● 02 230 M Dark-eyed Junco ● 04 220 M Savannah Sparrow ● 05 170 M Yellow-rumped Warbler ● 05 170 M Red-winged Blackbird ● 05 170 M White-throated Sparrow ● 08 160 M Mourning Dove ● 09 130 M Golden-crowned Kinglet ● 09 130 M Brown-headed Cowbird ● 09 130 M Red-eyed Vireo ● 09 130 M Song Sparrow ● 09 130 M Alder Flycatcher ● 14 120 M Northern Cardinal ● 14 120 M Swainson's Thrush ● 14 120 M Tennessee Warbler ● 17 110 M Ruby-crowned Kinglet ● 18 100 M Horned Lark ● 18 100 M Western Meadowlark ● 20 95.0 M House Sparrow ● 21 93.0 M Northern Yellow Warbler ● 21 93.0 M European Starling ● 21 93.0 M Google search interestin the U.S.* 01 ● Bald Eagle 100 02 ● Northern Cardinal 80 03 ● Blue Jay 58 04 ● American Robin 47 05 ● Mallard 43 06 ● Cooper's Hawk 42 07 ● Red-tailed Hawk 37 08 ● Mourning Dove 35 09 ● Great Blue Heron 34 10 ● House Finch 33 11 ● Great Horned Owl 31 12 ● Peregrine Falcon 31 13 ● American Barn Owl 30 14 ● Barred Owl 29 15 ● Sandhill Crane 28 16 ● American Goldfinch 28 17 ● Osprey 28 18 ● Pileated Woodpecker 23 19 ● House Sparrow 23 20 ● Snowy Owl 22 21 ● Canada Goose 21 * Search interestnormalized to Bald Eagle Chart: Search Interest vs. Real World Data A bar chart comparing three rankings of the top 21 birds: eBird Observations (what people see/report), Google Search Interest (what people search), and Population (how many exist). There is a strong correlation between sightings and searches; birds we attribute to seeing often are also searched often. However, there is a disconnect with population size; many abundant but small or elusive birds (like sparrows) are rarely searched, while rarer but iconic birds (like Eagles and Owls) are searched frequently. Looking at the lines connecting the three lists, it’s apparent that what we spot in the wild is also what we tend to search for on Google: About half of the species on the eBird observation list (on the left) are also on the Google search list (in the middle). Only the American Crow, No. 4 on eBird's list, doesn’t register on Google Trends. This is likely because most people search simply for crow instead of its species name. At the same time, only four birds on the most populous list (along the right) are also on the most searched list. This is in part because many small bird species like the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and the Savannah Sparrow are abundant but well hidden in their protected habitats, away from our eyes — and our curious minds. In fact, out of the five most populous birds in North America, three of them do not even register on Google Trends. (And we’re talking about hundreds of millions of these little feathery balls flying across the skies!) Although we Google some rare and elusive birds like the owls, the rarest of the birds fail to spark our curiosity. Over 200 species, accounting for nearly a third of U.S. birds, need urgent conservation, according to a 2025 report published by the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, and 112 of them have lost more than 50% of their populations in the past 50 years. We don’t Google them because they exist on the fringes of our world, even though it’s these birds that most need our attention. PART FIVE Species We Know and Love The Bald Eagle is one species that got our attention just in the nick of time. In the mid 1900s the species was nearly wiped out by habitat destruction and DDT insecticide poisoning. The species had a few things working in its favor: It is the emblem of the U.S. and it has also been meaningfully symbolic to people throughout history — from centuries of Indigenous peoples to the Founding Fathers to contemporary Americans. Through publicity and conservation efforts, Bald Eagles became an icon of the environmental movement. Today Bald Eagle is the top searched bird nationally and also in 26 U.S. states. (In the remaining states, it places second or third, except for Hawaii, the only state where it doesn’t live in the wild.) Another bird species that many Americans know and love is the Northern Cardinal. Northern Cardinal is the second most searched species in the U.S. and the top searched species in 16 states. Its popularity no doubt stems from the males’ bright red plumage and its frequent appearances in gardens and feeders. It ranks highly in just about every state east of the Rockies, but doesn’t crack the top 10 in the western states that are outside its habitat range. Some species, such as the Blue Jay and American Robin are highly searched in many states — which is why they are, respectively, the third and fourth ranked birds nationally — but neither has the top spot in any state. The map below shows the most searched bird by state. Hover over a state to see its top 10 species on Google Trends. Hover over a state to see the top 10 Birds marked with a yellow dot [●] in between their rank and name are also in the top 10 nationwide. Each spring, Nebraska’s North Platte River valley hosts the largest gathering of Sandhill Cranes in the world, with up to 600,000 cranes stopping to rest and feed for about six weeks before migrating north. * The Cooper's Hawk ranks highly in states that have a restaurant chain of the same name, suggesting that Google is unable to distinguish between the bird and the establishment. Each species has a unique egg, except the species with search interest in only one or two states, which have white eggs. The Most Googled Bird by U.S. State Bald Eagle Northern Cardinal Cooper's Hawk * Sandhill Crane Barred Owl Hawaiian Goose 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● Mallard 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● American Robin 6 ● Wood Duck 7 ● Barred Owl 8 ● Osprey 9 ● House Finch 10 ● Great Blue Heron ALABAMA 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Sandhill Crane 3 ● Rock Ptarmigan 4 ● American Robin 5 ● Great Horned Owl 6 ● Steller's Jay 7 ● Mallard 8 ● Golden Eagle 9 ● Arctic Tern 10 ● Snowy Owl ALASKA 1 ● Cooper's Hawk 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● Northern Cardinal 4 ● Great Horned Owl 5 ● Mourning Dove 6 ● Red-tailed Hawk 7 ● Gambel's Quail 8 ● Cactus Wren 9 ● American Barn Owl 10 ● Peregrine Falcon ARIZONA 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● Mallard 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● American Robin 6 ● Indigo Bunting 7 ● Wood Duck 8 ● House Finch 9 ● Purple Martin 10 ● Pileated Woodpecker ARKANSAS 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Red-tailed Hawk 3 ● Blue Jay 4 ● American Barn Owl 5 ● Peregrine Falcon 6 ● Great Horned Owl 7 ● Mourning Dove 8 ● Mallard 9 ● Great Blue Heron 10 ● American Robin CALIFORNIA 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Blue Jay 3 ● Red-tailed Hawk 4 ● Great Horned Owl 5 ● Sandhill Crane 6 ● American Robin 7 ● Peregrine Falcon 8 ● House Finch 9 ● American Barn Owl 10 ● Mallard COLORADO 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● American Robin 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● Red-tailed Hawk 6 ● Barred Owl 7 ● Mourning Dove 8 ● House Finch 9 ● Osprey 10 ● Pileated Woodpecker CONNECTICUT 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● American Robin 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● Osprey 6 ● Great Blue Heron 7 ● Purple Martin 8 ● Mallard 9 ● House Finch 10 ● American Goldfinch DELAWARE 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● Blue Jay 4 ● American Robin 5 ● Cooper's Hawk 6 ● Peregrine Falcon 7 ● Mourning Dove 8 ● Great Blue Heron 9 ● Red-tailed Hawk 10 ● House Sparrow D.C. 1 ● Sandhill Crane 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● Cooper's Hawk 4 ● Northern Cardinal 5 ● Blue Jay 6 ● Great Blue Heron 7 ● Osprey 8 ● Muscovy Duck 9 ● Great Egret 10 ● Anhinga FLORIDA 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● Blue Jay 4 ● American Robin 5 ● Mallard 6 ● Barred Owl 7 ● Brown Thrasher 8 ● Red-tailed Hawk 9 ● American Barn Owl 10 ● Great Blue Heron GEORGIA 1 ● Hawaiian Goose 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● Common Myna 4 ● House Finch 5 ● Pacific Golden-Plover 6 ● Zebra Dove 7 ● Bald Eagle 8 ● Muscovy Duck 9 ● Warbling White-eye 10 ● American Barn Owl HAWAII 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Mallard 3 ● American Robin 4 ● Osprey 5 ● Peregrine Falcon 6 ● Great Horned Owl 7 ● Red-tailed Hawk 8 ● American Barn Owl 9 ● Golden Eagle 10 ● Killdeer IDAHO 1 ● Cooper's Hawk 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● Bald Eagle 4 ● American Robin 5 ● Blue Jay 6 ● Mallard 7 ● Sandhill Crane 8 ● Mourning Dove 9 ● House Finch 10 ● Great Horned Owl ILLINOIS 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● Cooper's Hawk 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● American Robin 6 ● Sandhill Crane 7 ● Mallard 8 ● House Finch 9 ● Mourning Dove 10 ● Red-tailed Hawk INDIANA 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● American Goldfinch 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● House Finch 6 ● American Robin 7 ● Mallard 8 ● Barred Owl 9 ● Cooper's Hawk 10 ● Great Horned Owl IOWA 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● Blue Jay 4 ● Mallard 5 ● American Robin 6 ● Purple Martin 7 ● House Finch 8 ● American Barn Owl 9 ● American Goldfinch 10 ● Cooper's Hawk KANSAS 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● Blue Jay 4 ● American Robin 5 ● Mallard 6 ● Purple Martin 7 ● Red-tailed Hawk 8 ● House Finch 9 ● Great Blue Heron 10 ● American Barn Owl KENTUCKY 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Mallard 3 ● Bald Eagle 4 ● Wood Duck 5 ● Blue Jay 6 ● Purple Martin 7 ● Great Blue Heron 8 ● American Robin 9 ● American Barn Owl 10 ● Great Egret LOUISIANA 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● Barred Owl 4 ● Osprey 5 ● Blue Jay 6 ● Pileated Woodpecker 7 ● American Robin 8 ● American Goldfinch 9 ● Mallard 10 ● House Finch MAINE 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● Blue Jay 4 ● Cooper's Hawk 5 ● American Robin 6 ● Great Blue Heron 7 ● House Finch 8 ● Mallard 9 ● Osprey 10 ● Mourning Dove MARYLAND 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● American Robin 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● Red-tailed Hawk 6 ● Barred Owl 7 ● Mourning Dove 8 ● Osprey 9 ● Great Blue Heron 10 ● American Goldfinch MASSACHUSETTS 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● American Robin 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● Cooper's Hawk 6 ● Sandhill Crane 7 ● Pileated Woodpecker 8 ● Mallard 9 ● Mourning Dove 10 ● House Finch MICHIGAN 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● Mallard 4 ● Sandhill Crane 5 ● Blue Jay 6 ● American Robin 7 ● Pileated Woodpecker 8 ● Wood Duck 9 ● House Finch 10 ● Great Horned Owl MINNESOTA 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Mallard 3 ● Bald Eagle 4 ● Wood Duck 5 ● Blue Jay 6 ● Golden Eagle 7 ● American Robin 8 ● Purple Martin 9 ● Great Blue Heron 10 ● Barred Owl MISSISSIPPI 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● Cooper's Hawk 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● Barred Owl 6 ● Mallard 7 ● American Robin 8 ● House Finch 9 ● Purple Martin 10 ● Red-tailed Hawk MISSOURI 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Sandhill Crane 3 ● Osprey 4 ● American Robin 5 ● Great Horned Owl 6 ● Mallard 7 ● Golden Eagle 8 ● Blue Jay 9 ● House Finch 10 ● Red-tailed Hawk MONTANA 1 ● Sandhill Crane 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● Northern Cardinal 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● American Robin 6 ● Mallard 7 ● House Finch 8 ● Great Horned Owl 9 ● Peregrine Falcon 10 ● American Barn Owl NEBRASKA 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Blue Jay 3 ● Mallard 4 ● Peregrine Falcon 5 ● Great Blue Heron 6 ● Red-tailed Hawk 7 ● Great Horned Owl 8 ● Mourning Dove 9 ● American Robin 10 ● American Barn Owl NEVADA 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● Barred Owl 4 ● American Robin 5 ● Purple Finch 6 ● Blue Jay 7 ● Red-tailed Hawk 8 ● Peregrine Falcon 9 ● American Goldfinch 10 ● Pileated Woodpecker NEW HAMPSHIRE 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● Blue Jay 4 ● American Robin 5 ● Mourning Dove 6 ● Red-tailed Hawk 7 ● American Goldfinch 8 ● Osprey 9 ● House Finch 10 ● Peregrine Falcon NEW JERSEY 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Sandhill Crane 3 ● Great Horned Owl 4 ● American Barn Owl 5 ● House Finch 6 ● Red-tailed Hawk 7 ● Blue Jay 8 ● American Robin 9 ● Peregrine Falcon 10 ● Northern Cardinal NEW MEXICO 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● Blue Jay 4 ● American Robin 5 ● Red-tailed Hawk 6 ● Mourning Dove 7 ● Peregrine Falcon 8 ● Osprey 9 ● Great Blue Heron 10 ● Mallard NEW YORK 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● Blue Jay 4 ● Mallard 5 ● Barred Owl 6 ● American Robin 7 ● Red-tailed Hawk 8 ● House Finch 9 ● Carolina Wren 10 ● Great Blue Heron N. CAROLINA 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Killdeer 3 ● Mallard 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● American Robin 6 ● Snow Goose 7 ● Northern Cardinal 8 ● Mourning Dove 9 ● Canada Goose 10 ● Sandhill Crane N. DAKOTA 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Cooper's Hawk 3 ● Northern Cardinal 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● American Robin 6 ● Red-tailed Hawk 7 ● Great Blue Heron 8 ● House Finch 9 ● Mourning Dove 10 ● Mallard OHIO 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● Blue Jay 4 ● Mallard 5 ● American Robin 6 ● Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 7 ● Mississippi Kite 8 ● Painted Bunting 9 ● Red-tailed Hawk 10 ● American Barn Owl OKLAHOMA 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Blue Jay 3 ● American Robin 4 ● Great Blue Heron 5 ● American Barn Owl 6 ● Barred Owl 7 ● Mallard 8 ● Great Horned Owl 9 ● Red-tailed Hawk 10 ● Osprey OREGON 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● American Robin 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● Red-tailed Hawk 6 ● House Finch 7 ● Peregrine Falcon 8 ● Mourning Dove 9 ● Great Blue Heron 10 ● Pileated Woodpecker PENNSYLVANIA 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● Osprey 4 ● Peregrine Falcon 5 ● American Robin 6 ● Blue Jay 7 ● Mourning Dove 8 ● Red-tailed Hawk 9 ● Barred Owl 10 ● American Goldfinch RHODE ISLAND 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● Carolina Wren 4 ● Mallard 5 ● Great Blue Heron 6 ● Blue Jay 7 ● Barred Owl 8 ● Purple Martin 9 ● Painted Bunting 10 ● House Finch S. CAROLINA 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● Mallard 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● American Robin 6 ● Sandhill Crane 7 ● Snow Goose 8 ● Wood Duck 9 ● House Finch 10 ● Canada Goose S. DAKOTA 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● American Robin 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● Mallard 6 ● House Finch 7 ● Red-tailed Hawk 8 ● Purple Martin 9 ● Barred Owl 10 ● Mourning Dove TENNESSEE 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● Blue Jay 4 ● Mallard 5 ● American Robin 6 ● Red-tailed Hawk 7 ● American Barn Owl 8 ● Mourning Dove 9 ● Barn Swallow 10 ● Sandhill Crane TEXAS 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Mallard 3 ● American Robin 4 ● Red-tailed Hawk 5 ● Peregrine Falcon 6 ● American Barn Owl 7 ● Great Horned Owl 8 ● Blue Jay 9 ● Sandhill Crane 10 ● House Finch UTAH 1 ● Barred Owl 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● Bald Eagle 4 ● American Robin 5 ● American Goldfinch 6 ● Blue Jay 7 ● Pileated Woodpecker 8 ● Peregrine Falcon 9 ● Hermit Thrush 10 ● Red-tailed Hawk VERMONT 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● Cooper's Hawk 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● American Robin 6 ● House Finch 7 ● Mallard 8 ● Great Blue Heron 9 ● Mourning Dove 10 ● American Goldfinch VIRGINIA 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Barred Owl 3 ● Blue Jay 4 ● American Robin 5 ● Great Blue Heron 6 ● Osprey 7 ● Great Horned Owl 8 ● Mallard 9 ● American Barn Owl 10 ● American Goldfinch WASHINGTON 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Northern Cardinal 3 ● American Robin 4 ● Blue Jay 5 ● Mallard 6 ● House Finch 7 ● Red-tailed Hawk 8 ● American Goldfinch 9 ● Pileated Woodpecker 10 ● Mourning Dove W. VIRGINIA 1 ● Northern Cardinal 2 ● Bald Eagle 3 ● Sandhill Crane 4 ● American Robin 5 ● Mallard 6 ● Cooper's Hawk 7 ● Blue Jay 8 ● Mourning Dove 9 ● House Finch 10 ● Great Horned Owl WISCONSIN 1 ● Bald Eagle 2 ● Sandhill Crane 3 ● Great Horned Owl 4 ● American Robin 5 ● Golden Eagle 6 ● Blue Jay 7 ● Osprey 8 ● Mallard 9 ● Red-tailed Hawk 10 ● American Barn Owl WYOMING Map: Most Searched Bird by State A hexagon tile map of the US showing the top searched bird in each state. The Bald Eagle is the most popular, claiming the top spot in 26 states. The Northern Cardinal follows, leading mostly in the East. State-level rankings give a glimpse into what draws humans to search different birds. In Nebraska, for instance, Sandhill Crane is the most searched, likely because the North Platte River valley hosts the largest gathering in the world, with up to 600,000 cranes stopping to rest and feed for about six weeks before migrating north.[*] In Louisiana and Mississippi, Mallard and Wood Duck are in the top five most searched, likely because duck hunting is such a popular pastime in those states’ extensive marshlands. Cooper’s Hawk, on the other hand, is a search term that ranks highly in a few states that also happen to have a restaurant chain of the same name, suggesting that Google Trends is unable to distinguish between the bird and the establishment. PART SIX Paying Attention Long before social media feeds and birding apps, birders relied on analog systems to get information. Rare bird hotlines — phone numbers run by local Audubon chapters or birding clubs — catered to enthusiasts hungry for news of a vagrant warbler or storm-swept gannet. Callers would dial in, listen to a recorded message, and, if they were lucky, hear that an awesome bird had touched down nearby. Today, news of a rare sighting travels very differently. An alert on a WhatsApp group or social media or eBird can ignite a frenzy within minutes, drawing crowds to parks and street corners with binoculars in hand. Which is exactly what happened when the Snowy Owl appeared in New York City. Word traveled fast and people who had never used a field guide suddenly wanted to know everything about this arctic wanderer. Rare bird alerts such as this routinely produce Google search spikes resulting from the rush of discovery. Beyond these sudden (and often localized) bursts of search activity, Googling birds follows a seasonal rhythm, as shown in the below chart of the last 10 years. Google Trends value* 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Waves of Interest Weekly search activity for the 50 most Googled birds in the U.S. *Lines normalized to the American Robin in 2022 and smoothed for readability. April & May Chart: Seasonal Search Trends A line chart showing Google search trends for birds over the last 10 years. It reveals a distinct annual pattern with search interest peaking every spring (April/May), coinciding with migration. There was a notable surge in interest during the pandemic (Spring 2020/2021). Springtime surges Every year there is a pronounced rise in Google searches in April and May, two major spring migration months. This is when millions of birds are on the move, budding trees make sightings easier and birdsong activity peaks. It’s also when the world feels alive again and we venture outside to notice the world around us. Pandemic peak That seasonal pulse was amplified during the pandemic, when search activity for bird terms rose considerably. With travel limited and daily routines stripped back, we paid closer attention to our immediate surroundings and birds became an accessible source of entertainment just outside our windows. A bit out of line The rhythms of bird migration and Googling vary somewhat from species to species. Bald Eagle [●] ticks up a little earlier in the year, in line with peak nesting season in February and March. Searches for Snowy Owl [●], Snow Goose [●] and other cold weather species peak in the winter months. And searches for Common Raven [●] and Rock Pigeon [●] don’t have much seasonality at all, as these are year-round birds. Whatever month or season it is, birds are everywhere, from the docile Mourning Doves in the grass to the predatory Peregrine Falcons on the cliffsides. Yet we often don’t even notice them, let alone search for them on Google, or on birding apps, or in field guides. Most of the time, they fade into the background of our lives. There are many ways you can bring birds into focus into your own life, by, for instance, joining a birding community, downloading an identification app, or cracking open a birding book. But the easiest way is simply to pay attention. Once you do, birds have a way of giving back, instilling you with joy, wonder, surprise and curiosity, as the Snowy Owl did for so many New Yorkers on that cold winter day.