Witnessing Wildlife at rare
When visiting rare, please remember to remain on walking trails so as not to intrude upon wildlife habitat and to give others viewing opportunities.
Patience will be required to see much of the rare wildlife.
The following species of birds have been observed and documented at rare (last updated March, 2018):
Legend: (Species name)- Formerly introduced; Species name– Flyover species
WATERFOWL
- Greater White-fronted Goose
- Snow Goose
- Cackling Goose
- Brant
- Canada Goose
- Mute Swan
- Trumpeter Swan
- Tundra Swan
- Wood Duck
- Gadwall
- American Wigeon
- American Black Duck
- Mallard
- Blue-winged Teal
- Northern Shoveler
- Northern Pintail
- Green-winged Teal
- Canvasback
- Redhead
- Ring-necked Duck
- Greater Scaup
- Lesser Scaup
- Long-tailed Duck
- Bufflehead
- Common Goldeneye
- Hooded Merganser
- Common Merganser
- Red-breasted Merganser
- Ruddy Duck
GROUSE, QUAIL & ALLIES
- (Ring-necked Pheasant)
- Ruffed Grouse
- Wild Turkey
- (Northern Bobwhite)
LOONS & GREBES
- Common Loon
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Horned Grebe
- Red-neck Grebe
CORMORANTS
- Double-crested Cormorant
HERONS, IBIS & ALLIES
- American Bittern
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Egret
- Little Blue Heron
- Green Heron
- Black-crowned Night-Heron
VULTURES, HAWKS, FALCONS & ALLIES
- Turkey Vulture
- Osprey
- Bald Eagle
- Northern Harrier
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Cooper’s Hawk
- Northern Goshawk
- Red-shouldered Hawk
- Broad-winged Hawk
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Rough-legged Hawk
- Golden Eagle
- American Kestrel
- Merlin
- Peregrine Falcon
RAILS, GALLINULES & ALLIES
- Virginia Rail
- Sora
- American Coot
CRANES
- Sandhill Crane
SHOREBIRDS
- Semipalmated Plover
- Killdeer
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Solitary Sandpiper
- Greater Yellowlegs
- Lesser Yellowlegs
- White-rumped Sandpiper
- Upland Sandpiper
- Ruddy Turnstone
- Short-billed Dowitcher
- Semipalmated Sandpiper
- Least Sandpiper
- Baird’s Sandpiper
- Pectoral Sandpiper
- Dunlin
- Wilson’s Snipe
- American Woodcock
GULLS & TERNS
- Bonaparte’s Gull
- Laughing Gull
- Ring-billed Gull
- Herring Gull
- Thayer’s Gull
- Iceland Gull
- Lesser Black-backed Gull
- Glaucous Gull
- Great Black-backed Gull
- Caspian Tern
- Black Tern
- Common Tern
PIGEONS & DOVES
- Rock Pigeon
- Mourning Dove
CUCKOOS
- Yellow-billed Cuckoo
- Black-billed Cuckoo
OWLS
- Eastern Screech-Owl
- Great Horned Owl
- Barred Owl
- Short-eared Owl
- Long-eared Owl
- Northern Saw-whet Owl
NIGHTJARS
- Common Nighthawk
- Eastern Whip-poor-will
SWIFTS
- Chimney Swift
HUMMINGBIRDS
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
KINGFISHERS
- Belted Kingfisher
WOODPECKERS
- Red-headed Woodpecker
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
- Downy Woodpecker
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Black-backed Woodpecker
- Northern Flicker
- Pileated Woodpecker
TYRANT FLYCATCHERS
- Olive-sided Flycatcher
- Eastern Wood-Pewee
- Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
- Alder Flycatcher
- Willow Flycatcher
- Least Flycatcher
- Eastern Phoebe
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Eastern Kingbird
SHRIKES
- Northern Shrike
VIREOS
- White-eyed Vireo
- Yellow-throated Vireo
- Blue-headed Vireo
- Warbling Vireo
- Philadelphia Vireo
- Red-eyed Vireo
JAYS, CROWS & RAVENS
- Blue Jay
- American Crow
- Common Raven
LARKS
- Horned Lark
MARTINS & SWALLOWS
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow
- Tree Swallow
- Bank Swallow
- Barn Swallow
- Cliff Swallow
- Purple Martin
CHICKADEES & TITMICE
- Black-capped Chickadee
NUTHATCHES
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- White-breasted Nuthatch
TREECREEPERS
- Brown Creeper
WRENS
- Carolina Wren
- House Wren
- Winter Wren
- Marsh Wren
GNATCATCHERS
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
KINGLETS
- Golden-crowned Kinglet
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
THRUSHES
- Eastern Bluebird
- Veery
- Gray-cheeked Thrush
- Swainson’s Thrush
- Hermit Thrush
- Wood Thrush
- American Robin
CATBIRDS, MOCKINGBIRDS & THRASHERS
- Gray Catbird
- Northern Mockingbird
- Brown Thrasher
STARLINGS
- European Starling
PIPITS
- American Pipit
WAXWINGS
- Cedar Waxwing
LONGSPURS & SNOWBUNTINGS
- Lapland Longspur
- Snow Bunting
WOOD WARBLERS
- Ovenbird
- Northern Waterthrush
- Blue-winged Warbler
- Golden-winged Warbler
- Black-and-white Warbler
- Tennessee Warbler
- Orange-crowned Warbler
- Nashville Warbler
- Connecticut Warbler
- Mourning Warbler
- Common Yellowthroat
- Hooded Warbler
- American Redstart
- Cape May 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
- Prairie Warbler
- Black-throated Green Warbler
- Canada Warbler
- Wilson’s Warbler
- Yellow-breasted Chat
SPARROWS & OTHER EMBERIZIDS
- Spotted Towhee
- Eastern Towhee
- American Tree Sparrow
- Chipping Sparrow
- Clay-coloured Sparrow
- Field Sparrow
- Vesper Sparrow
- Savannah Sparrow
- Grasshopper Sparrow
- LeConte’s Sparrow
- Nelson’s Sparrow
- Fox Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- Lincoln’s Sparrow
- Swamp Sparrow
- White-throated Sparrow
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Dark-eyed Junco
CARDINALS, GROSBEAKS & ALLIES
- Scarlet Tanager
- Northern Cardinal
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- Indigo Bunting
BLACKBIRDS
- Bobolink
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Eastern Meadowlark
- Yellow-headed Blackbird
- Rusty Blackbird
- Common Grackle
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Orchard Oriole
- Baltimore Oriole
FINCHES & ALLIES
- Purple Finch
- House Finch
- Red Crossbill
- White-winged Crossbill
- Common Redpoll
- Pine Siskin
- American Goldfinch
- Evening Grosbeak
OLD WORLD SPARROWS
- House Sparrow
–Photo by J. Dillon & J. Moser