Winter Birds in Delaware 2026: Top Backyard Birds

Q: What birds are at feeders in Delaware in winter?

The perching birds, woodpeckers and doves reported most in Delaware in winter are the Northern Cardinal (2.5%), White-throated Sparrow (2.5%), Song Sparrow (2.1%), Yellow-rumped Warbler (1.5%) and Dark-eyed Junco (1.4%). Each figure is that bird's share of all research grade winter bird reports for the state on iNaturalist, December to February across the ten winters from 2016-17 to 2025-26.

Q: Which birds come to Delaware only for the winter?

In the Delaware record the winter visitors are the Snow Goose, Bufflehead, White-throated Sparrow, Long-tailed Duck, Northern Pintail and Northern Harrier. Each makes up at least 10 times the share of winter bird reports that it does in summer, so it is a bird that arrives with the cold and leaves in spring.

Q: What is the most reported winter bird in Delaware?

The Snow Goose, with 3.6% of all research grade winter bird reports for Delaware (556 reports over ten winters). Among feeder birds the leader is the Northern Cardinal at 2.5%.

Q: When is the Christmas Bird Count in Delaware?

The Christmas Bird Count runs from December 14 to January 5 every year in Delaware and across the country. Each local count covers a circle 15 miles wide on a single day in that window, and anyone living inside a circle can join as a feeder counter from home.

Q: How can someone in Delaware count birds from home this winter?

Project FeederWatch runs from November 1 to April 30 and asks for counts on two consecutive days as often as once a week. The Great Backyard Bird Count takes as little as 15 minutes on one of four days in February, with February 12 to 15 posted for 2027.

Q: How often should a bird feeder be cleaned in Delaware?

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology recommends cleaning seed and suet feeders every week or two, and more often in heavy use or wet weather, then soaking the parts for 10 minutes in one part bleach to nine parts water. Fluffed up feathers, lethargy and crusty eyes are signs of illness.

Q: How are the Delaware winter bird numbers counted?

Every figure is a count of research grade bird observations uploaded to iNaturalist for Delaware, December to February across the ten winters from 2016-17 to 2025-26, divided by all research grade bird observations for the state in the same months. The same shares for June to August separate the winter visitors from the year round birds.

At the feeder

The top winter birds in Delaware

The songbirds, woodpeckers and doves reported most in Delaware in winter, ranked by their share of all research grade bird reports for the state, December to February. Birds marked winter visitor come for the cold months; the Snow Goose leads them here.

1
Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
2.5% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Male northern cardinal in Central Park (52612)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
2
White-throated Sparrow
Zonotrichia albicollis
2.5% of winter bird reports
Winter visitor
Photo: “Zonotrichia albicollis CT1” by Cephas, CC BY-SA 3.0
3
Song Sparrow
Melospiza melodia
2.1% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Song sparrow in Prospect Park (93031)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
4
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Setophaga coronata
1.5% of winter bird reports
Winter visitor
Photo: “Yellow-rumped warbler singing (41612) (cropped)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
5
Dark-eyed Junco
Junco hyemalis
1.4% of winter bird reports
Winter visitor
Photo: “Junco hyemalis hyemalis CT1 (cropped)” by Cephas, CC BY-SA 3.0
6
Downy Woodpecker
Dryobates pubescens
1.3% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Dryobates pubescens UL 03” by Cephas, CC BY-SA 4.0
7
House Finch
Haemorhous mexicanus
1.2% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “House finch (33688)2” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
8
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Melanerpes carolinus
1.2% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Red-bellied Woodpecker-27527”, Ken Thomas, Public domain

Every bird reported most in Delaware in winter

The same ranking across all birds, with the ducks, gulls and hawks that turn up at water and along roads beside the feeder birds.

Every bird group in Delaware: the 20 species with the most research grade reports on iNaturalist in December to February, with each one’s share of winter and of summer bird reports.
#	Species	Winter share	Summer share	Status
1	Snow Goose	3.6%	0.14%	Winter visitor
2	Bald Eagle	3.2%	1.2%	Year round
3	Great Blue Heron	3.0%	3.7%	Year round
4	Bufflehead	2.8%	0.01%	Winter visitor
5	Northern Cardinal	2.5%	1.1%	Year round
6	White-throated Sparrow	2.5%	0.01%	Winter visitor
7	Song Sparrow	2.1%	0.45%	Year round
8	Long-tailed Duck	1.9%	0%	Winter visitor
9	Canada Goose	1.9%	1.4%	Year round
10	Northern Pintail	1.8%	0.01%	Winter visitor
11	Northern Harrier	1.7%	0.03%	Winter visitor
12	Tundra Swan	1.6%	0%	Winter visitor
13	Hooded Merganser	1.6%	0.01%	Winter visitor
14	Surf Scoter	1.6%	0.01%	Winter visitor
15	Sanderling	1.6%	1.1%	Year round
16	Mallard	1.6%	1.5%	Year round
17	Yellow-rumped Warbler	1.5%	0.01%	Winter visitor
18	Ring-billed Gull	1.4%	0.75%	Year round
19	Dark-eyed Junco	1.4%	0%	Winter visitor
20	Turkey Vulture	1.3%	1.1%	Year round

Here for the winter

Winter visitors to Delaware

A winter visitor here is a bird with a winter share of bird reports at least 10 times its summer share, with at least 20 winter reports. In Delaware that makes 10 species at the top of the list:

Snow Goose
Anser caerulescens
3.6% of winter bird reports against 0.14% in summer, about 26 times the summer share.
Bufflehead
Bucephala albeola
2.8% of winter bird reports against 0.01% in summer, about 407 times the summer share.
White-throated Sparrow
Zonotrichia albicollis
2.5% of winter bird reports against 0.01% in summer, about 179 times the summer share.
Long-tailed Duck
Clangula hyemalis
1.9% of winter bird reports and no summer reports at all.
Northern Pintail
Anas acuta
1.8% of winter bird reports against 0.01% in summer, about 131 times the summer share.
Northern Harrier
Circus hudsonius
1.7% of winter bird reports against 0.03% in summer, about 48 times the summer share.
Tundra Swan
Cygnus columbianus
1.6% of winter bird reports and no summer reports at all.
Hooded Merganser
Lophodytes cucullatus
1.6% of winter bird reports against 0.01% in summer, about 240 times the summer share.
Surf Scoter
Melanitta perspicillata
1.6% of winter bird reports against 0.01% in summer, about 118 times the summer share.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Setophaga coronata
1.5% of winter bird reports against 0.01% in summer, about 215 times the summer share.

Through the year

When Delaware’s top winter birds are reported

The eight birds with the most winter reports in Delaware, month by month. A resident draws a flat line; a winter visitor rises in the middle of the chart and drops to nothing at the edges.

Snow Goose

Peaks in December at 4.9%; winter 3.7%, summer 0.14%.

Bald Eagle

Peaks in March at 4.1%; winter 3.4%, summer 1.2%.

Great Blue Heron

Peaks in June at 4.2%; winter 3.1%, summer 3.8%.

Bufflehead

Peaks in December at 2.9%; winter 2.8%, summer 0.01%.

Northern Cardinal

Peaks in January at 2.7%; winter 2.5%, summer 1.1%.

White-throated Sparrow

Peaks in January at 3.5%; winter 2.4%, summer 0.01%.

Song Sparrow

Peaks in January at 2.4%; winter 2.1%, summer 0.45%.

Long-tailed Duck

Peaks in February at 2.4%; winter 1.7%, summer 0%.

Each bar is the species’ share of all research grade bird reports uploaded to iNaturalist for Delaware in that month, calendar years 2016 through 2025, running July to June so the winter sits in the middle, with December to February shaded. Shares of reports follow birders as well as birds.

Count them

Winter bird counts in Delaware

Three counts run through the winter, each open to anyone in Delaware with a window onto a feeder. Soonest first:

Starts in 18 days
Project FeederWatch
November 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027
Run by Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada
“Project FeederWatch runs from November 1 through April 30. For each count, select two consecutive days as often as once a week.”
Project FeederWatch
Starts in 61 days
Christmas Bird Count
December 14, 2026 to January 5, 2027
Run by National Audubon Society
“Feeder Counts: Count all the birds you see or hear from your own backyard or local park at a stationary bird feeder within a CBC circle. No binoculars or hiking required, and you can participate with less time commitment.”
Christmas Bird Count
Starts in 121 days
Great Backyard Bird Count
February 12, 2027 to February 15, 2027
Run by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon Society and Birds Canada
“Count the birds you see for as little as 15 minutes on one of the four days.”
Great Backyard Bird Count
The 2026 count: 8,257 species on 467,696 checklists, an estimated 1,146,284 participants.

At the feeder

Feeding birds in winter

Cleaning

“Clean your seed or suet feeders regularly (e.g., every week or two) and more often during periods of heavy use or wet weather.”
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Project FeederWatch

“Debris (such as leftover bits of seeds and hulls) can harbor pathogens that make birds sick.”
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Project FeederWatch

Disinfecting

“To disinfect your feeders, soak the (cleaned) parts for 10 minutes in a diluted bleach solution (e.g., one part bleach to nine parts water).”
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Project FeederWatch

Sick birds

“Fluffed-up feathers, lethargy, abnormal growths, and crusty eyes are all symptoms of various avian illnesses.”
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Project FeederWatch

House finches

“For example, not every bird that is exposed to Mycoplasma gallisepticum will contract conjunctivitis; however, House Finches are especially susceptible to this bacterium, which led to serious declines in North American populations in the 1990s.”
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Project FeederWatch

Bird flu

“Bird feeders are unlikely to result in increased spread of avian influenza since the species of bird that tend to come to feeders are not commonly infected.”
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

“However, feeders do concentrate passerines and increase the risk of transmission of other infectious diseases that do impact their health, including salmonella, E. coli and mycoplasma.”
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Planting

“Creating natural spaces that attract birds to the cover and food provided by native vegetation appropriate to the location is far healthier than feeders.”
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Quoted exactly from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; each link opens the full page.

A male house finch with a red head and breast and brown streaked flanks perched at the port of a tube feeder, looking straight at the camera — A male house finch at a tube feeder. House finches are the feeder bird most prone to the eye disease Cornell describes above, so crusty or swollen eyes on one are a signal to clean. “Watchful House Finch at feeder (26735005435)”, David Whelan, CC0

Elsewhere

Winter birds in other states

The same ranking runs in every state below, and the national list of winter backyard birds puts them side by side.

Questions about winter birds in Delaware

What birds are at feeders in Delaware in winter?

Which birds come to Delaware only for the winter?

What is the most reported winter bird in Delaware?

When is the Christmas Bird Count in Delaware?

How can someone in Delaware count birds from home this winter?

How often should a bird feeder be cleaned in Delaware?

How are the Delaware winter bird numbers counted?

Compiled 2026-09-22 from research grade bird observation counts for Delaware on iNaturalist, December to February, winters 2016-17 through 2025-26, against June to August, summers 2016 through 2025: 15,479 winter bird reports in all. Shares are uploads by the public divided by all bird uploads for the state, so they follow birders as well as birds. The top bird took 3.6% of them. Count dates and feeding guidance are quoted from the organisers and agencies linked above.

Snowy owl watchThe big white owl of open country, winter by winter, with the northern finches that move with it.Fall migration in DelawareCranes, geese, hawks and songbirds on the way south, the season that sets up the winter feeder.Winter eagle watchingBald eagles gather at open water in the coldest weeks, the other great winter bird show.

Winter Birds in Delaware

The top winter birds in Delaware

Northern Cardinal

White-throated Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Dark-eyed Junco

Downy Woodpecker

House Finch

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Every bird reported most in Delaware in winter

Winter visitors to Delaware

Snow Goose

Bufflehead

White-throated Sparrow

Long-tailed Duck

Northern Pintail

Northern Harrier

Tundra Swan

Hooded Merganser

Surf Scoter

Yellow-rumped Warbler

When Delaware’s top winter birds are reported

Snow Goose

Bald Eagle

Great Blue Heron

Bufflehead

Northern Cardinal

White-throated Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Long-tailed Duck

Winter bird counts in Delaware

Project FeederWatch

Christmas Bird Count

Great Backyard Bird Count

Feeding birds in winter

Cleaning

Disinfecting

Sick birds

House finches

Bird flu

Planting

Winter birds in other states

Questions about winter birds in Delaware