Winter Birds in Hawaii 2026: Top Backyard Birds

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

The perching birds, woodpeckers and doves reported most in Hawaii in winter are the Zebra Dove (6.0%), Red-crested Cardinal (5.7%), Common Myna (4.9%), Saffron Finch (3.2%) and Spotted Dove (2.4%). 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 Hawaii only for the winter?

Every one of the most reported winter birds in Hawaii is also reported in summer in similar proportion, so the winter feeder here is a gathering of year round residents. The birds that do shift are Zebra Dove, Red-crested Cardinal and Common Myna, which gather at feeders as natural food runs short.

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

The Pacific Golden-Plover, with 6.4% of all research grade winter bird reports for Hawaii (2,512 reports over ten winters). Among feeder birds the leader is the Zebra Dove at 6.0%.

Q: When is the Christmas Bird Count in Hawaii?

The Christmas Bird Count runs from December 14 to January 5 every year in Hawaii 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 Hawaii 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 Hawaii?

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 Hawaii winter bird numbers counted?

Every figure is a count of research grade bird observations uploaded to iNaturalist for Hawaii, 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 Hawaii

The songbirds, woodpeckers and doves reported most in Hawaii in winter, ranked by their share of all research grade bird reports for the state, December to February. Every one of them is also reported through the summer, so these are the neighbours who stay.

1
Zebra Dove
Geopelia striata
6.0% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Geopelia striata 1 crop - Chinese Garden” by JJ Harrison (https://tiny.jjharrison.com.au/t/1MF79Mf2vRuTfWFs), CC BY-SA 4.0
2
Red-crested Cardinal
Paroaria coronata
5.7% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Red-crested cardinal (Paroaria coronata) Costanera Sur” by Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0
3
Common Myna
Acridotheres tristis
4.9% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Acridotheres tristis00” by Gerrie van Vuuren, CC BY-SA 4.0
4
Saffron Finch
Sicalis flaveola
3.2% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Saffron finch (Sicalis flaveola) male” by Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0
5
Spotted Dove
Spilopelia chinensis
2.4% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Spilopelia chinensis Zhengzhou 20220915, crop” by iNaturalist/zinogre, CC BY-SA 4.0
6
House Sparrow
Passer domesticus
2.4% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “House sparrow male in Prospect Park (53532)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
7
Java Sparrow
Padda oryzivora
2.2% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Java Sparrow - Baluran NP - East Java MG 8180 (29726690101)” by Francesco Veronesi from Italy, CC BY-SA 2.0
8
White-rumped Shama
Copsychus malabaricus
2.0% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “White-rumped Shama (14503818154)” by Koshy Koshy from Faridabad, Haryana, India, CC BY 2.0

Every bird reported most in Hawaii 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 Hawaii: 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	Pacific Golden-Plover	6.4%	1.8%	Year round
2	Zebra Dove	6.0%	7.2%	Year round
3	Red-crested Cardinal	5.7%	8.4%	Year round
4	Common Myna	4.9%	6.7%	Year round
5	Western Cattle-Egret	4.4%	4.9%	Year round
6	Hawaiian Goose	4.2%	3.4%	Year round
7	Red Junglefowl	4.0%	5.3%	Year round
8	Black-crowned Night Heron	3.3%	3.6%	Year round
9	Saffron Finch	3.2%	3.3%	Year round
10	Spotted Dove	2.4%	2.7%	Year round
11	House Sparrow	2.4%	3.4%	Year round
12	Java Sparrow	2.2%	2.4%	Year round
13	White-rumped Shama	2.0%	2.1%	Year round
14	Laysan Albatross	2.0%	0.71%	Year round
15	Black-necked Stilt	1.9%	1.7%	Year round
16	Warbling White-eye	1.9%	2.2%	Year round
17	Wandering Tattler	1.8%	0.54%	Year round
18	Common Waxbill	1.8%	2.1%	Year round
19	ʻApapane	1.8%	1.3%	Year round
20	Yellow-billed Cardinal	1.6%	2.3%	Year round

Through the year

When Hawaii’s top winter birds are reported

The eight birds with the most winter reports in Hawaii, 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.

Pacific Golden-Plover

Peaks in March at 7.1%; winter 6.4%, summer 1.8%.

Zebra Dove

Peaks in July at 7.4%; winter 6.1%, summer 7.2%.

Red-crested Cardinal

Peaks in July at 8.9%; winter 5.9%, summer 8.4%.

Common Myna

Peaks in July at 6.9%; winter 5.0%, summer 6.7%.

Western Cattle-Egret

Peaks in October at 5.1%; winter 4.5%, summer 4.9%.

Hawaiian Goose

Peaks in January at 4.6%; winter 4.2%, summer 3.4%.

Red Junglefowl

Peaks in July at 5.4%; winter 3.9%, summer 5.3%.

Black-crowned Night Heron

Peaks in May at 4.4%; winter 3.3%, summer 3.6%.

Each bar is the species’ share of all research grade bird reports uploaded to iNaturalist for Hawaii 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 Hawaii

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

Starts in 22 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 65 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 125 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 Hawaii

What birds are at feeders in Hawaii in winter?

Which birds come to Hawaii only for the winter?

What is the most reported winter bird in Hawaii?

When is the Christmas Bird Count in Hawaii?

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

How often should a bird feeder be cleaned in Hawaii?

How are the Hawaii winter bird numbers counted?

Compiled 2026-09-22 from research grade bird observation counts for Hawaii on iNaturalist, December to February, winters 2016-17 through 2025-26, against June to August, summers 2016 through 2025: 39,280 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 6.4% 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 watchCranes, 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 Hawaii

The top winter birds in Hawaii

Zebra Dove

Red-crested Cardinal

Common Myna

Saffron Finch

Spotted Dove

House Sparrow

Java Sparrow

White-rumped Shama

Every bird reported most in Hawaii in winter

When Hawaii’s top winter birds are reported

Pacific Golden-Plover

Zebra Dove

Red-crested Cardinal

Common Myna

Western Cattle-Egret

Hawaiian Goose

Red Junglefowl

Black-crowned Night Heron

Winter bird counts in Hawaii

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 Hawaii