Winter Birds in Mississippi 2026: Top Backyard Birds

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

The perching birds, woodpeckers and doves reported most in Mississippi in winter are the Yellow-rumped Warbler (3.1%), Northern Cardinal (3.0%), Eastern Bluebird (2.3%), Northern Mockingbird (2.0%) and American Robin (1.8%). 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 Mississippi only for the winter?

In the Mississippi record the winter visitors are the Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pied-billed Grebe, White-throated Sparrow, American Kestrel, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Song Sparrow. 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 Mississippi?

The Yellow-rumped Warbler, with 3.1% of all research grade winter bird reports for Mississippi (510 reports over ten winters). The Northern Cardinal is next among the feeder birds at 3.0%.

Q: When is the Christmas Bird Count in Mississippi?

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

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 Mississippi winter bird numbers counted?

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

The songbirds, woodpeckers and doves reported most in Mississippi 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 Yellow-rumped Warbler leads them here.

1
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Setophaga coronata
3.1% of winter bird reports
Winter visitor
Photo: “Yellow-rumped warbler singing (41612) (cropped)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
2
Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
3.0% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Male northern cardinal in Central Park (52612)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
3
Eastern Bluebird
Sialia sialis
2.3% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Sialia sialis -Michigan, USA -pair-8c” by Sandysphotos2009, CC BY 2.0
4
Northern Mockingbird
Mimus polyglottos
2.0% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Mockingbird in Bay Ridge (85082)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
5
American Robin
Turdus migratorius
1.8% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “American robin (71307)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
6
American Goldfinch
Spinus tristis
1.8% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Carduelis tristis -Michigan, USA -male-8” by Rodney Campbell, CC BY 2.0
7
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Melanerpes carolinus
1.8% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Red-bellied Woodpecker-27527”, Ken Thomas, Public domain
8
White-throated Sparrow
Zonotrichia albicollis
1.7% of winter bird reports
Winter visitor
Photo: “Zonotrichia albicollis CT1” by Cephas, CC BY-SA 3.0

Every bird reported most in Mississippi 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 Mississippi: 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	Yellow-rumped Warbler	3.1%	0.01%	Winter visitor
2	Northern Cardinal	3.0%	7.3%	Year round
3	Great Blue Heron	2.6%	2.7%	Year round
4	Eastern Bluebird	2.3%	1.4%	Year round
5	Great Egret	2.2%	2.6%	Year round
6	Northern Mockingbird	2.0%	2.1%	Year round
7	American Robin	1.8%	0.29%	Year round
8	American Goldfinch	1.8%	0.20%	Year round
9	Red-bellied Woodpecker	1.8%	1.5%	Year round
10	Pied-billed Grebe	1.7%	0.11%	Winter visitor
11	White-throated Sparrow	1.7%	0%	Winter visitor
12	Eastern Phoebe	1.7%	0.21%	Year round
13	Pine Warbler	1.7%	0.56%	Year round
14	Chipping Sparrow	1.6%	0.33%	Year round
15	Red-tailed Hawk	1.5%	0.51%	Year round
16	Bald Eagle	1.4%	0.27%	Year round
17	Downy Woodpecker	1.4%	0.55%	Year round
18	Tufted Titmouse	1.4%	1.7%	Year round
19	American Kestrel	1.3%	0.05%	Winter visitor
20	Double-crested Cormorant	1.2%	0.21%	Year round

Here for the winter

Winter visitors to Mississippi

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 Mississippi that makes 8 species:

Yellow-rumped Warbler
Setophaga coronata
3.1% of winter bird reports against 0.01% in summer, about 340 times the summer share.
Pied-billed Grebe
Podilymbus podiceps
1.7% of winter bird reports against 0.11% in summer, about 16 times the summer share.
White-throated Sparrow
Zonotrichia albicollis
1.7% of winter bird reports and no summer reports at all.
American Kestrel
Falco sparverius
1.3% of winter bird reports against 0.05% in summer, about 23 times the summer share.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Sphyrapicus varius
1.2% of winter bird reports against 0.05% in summer, about 26 times the summer share.
Song Sparrow
Melospiza melodia
1.2% of winter bird reports and no summer reports at all.
Dark-eyed Junco
Junco hyemalis
1.1% of winter bird reports and no summer reports at all.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Corthylio calendula
1.1% of winter bird reports and no summer reports at all.

Through the year

When Mississippi’s top winter birds are reported

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

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Peaks in December at 3.2%; winter 3.2%, summer 0.01%.

Northern Cardinal

Peaks in August at 15%; winter 3.1%, summer 7.2%.

Great Blue Heron

Peaks in December at 3.5%; winter 2.5%, summer 2.7%.

Eastern Bluebird

Peaks in May at 2.8%; winter 2.2%, summer 1.4%.

Great Egret

Peaks in December at 3.1%; winter 2.1%, summer 2.6%.

Northern Mockingbird

Peaks in October at 3.3%; winter 2.0%, summer 2.1%.

American Robin

Peaks in February at 3.2%; winter 1.9%, summer 0.29%.

American Goldfinch

Peaks in January at 2.3%; winter 1.8%, summer 0.20%.

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

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

Starts in 19 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 62 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 122 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 Mississippi

What birds are at feeders in Mississippi in winter?

Which birds come to Mississippi only for the winter?

What is the most reported winter bird in Mississippi?

When is the Christmas Bird Count in Mississippi?

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

How often should a bird feeder be cleaned in Mississippi?

How are the Mississippi winter bird numbers counted?

Compiled 2026-09-22 from research grade bird observation counts for Mississippi on iNaturalist, December to February, winters 2016-17 through 2025-26, against June to August, summers 2016 through 2025: 16,360 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 3.1% 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 MississippiCranes, 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 Mississippi

The top winter birds in Mississippi

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Northern Cardinal

Eastern Bluebird

Northern Mockingbird

American Robin

American Goldfinch

Red-bellied Woodpecker

White-throated Sparrow

Every bird reported most in Mississippi in winter

Winter visitors to Mississippi

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Pied-billed Grebe

White-throated Sparrow

American Kestrel

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Song Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

When Mississippi’s top winter birds are reported

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Northern Cardinal

Great Blue Heron

Eastern Bluebird

Great Egret

Northern Mockingbird

American Robin

American Goldfinch

Winter bird counts in Mississippi

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 Mississippi