Winter Birds in Utah
The American Robin, House Finch and Dark-eyed Junco lead the backyard birds reported in Utah from December to February, from ten winters of iNaturalist reports.
The top winter birds in Utah
The songbirds, woodpeckers and doves reported most in Utah 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 Northern Harrier leads them here.
1American Robin
Turdus migratorius
3.4% of winter bird reports
Year roundPhoto: “American robin (71307)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
2House Finch
Haemorhous mexicanus
3.2% of winter bird reports
Year roundPhoto: “House finch (33688)2” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
3Dark-eyed Junco
Junco hyemalis
2.8% of winter bird reports
Year roundPhoto: “Junco hyemalis hyemalis CT1 (cropped)” by Cephas, CC BY-SA 3.0
4Northern Flicker
Colaptes auratus
2.4% of winter bird reports
Year roundPhoto: “Northern yellow-shafted flicker male (33737) (cropped)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
5White-crowned Sparrow
Zonotrichia leucophrys
1.7% of winter bird reports
Year roundPhoto: “White-crowned-Sparrow” by Wolfgang Wander, CC BY-SA 3.0
6Lesser Goldfinch
Spinus psaltria
1.6% of winter bird reports
Year roundPhoto: “Lesser Goldfinch ( Eastern race) Kerr WMA Kerrville TX 2018-05-06 12-11-15-2 (42881554344)” by Bettina Arrigoni, CC BY 2.0
7Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay
Aphelocoma woodhouseii
1.6% of winter bird reports
Year roundPhoto: “Western Scrub Jay, Santa Fe” by Peter Wallack, CC BY-SA 3.0
8Song Sparrow
Melospiza melodia
1.6% of winter bird reports
Year roundPhoto: “Song sparrow in Prospect Park (93031)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
Every bird reported most in Utah 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.
| # | Species | Winter share | Summer share | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mallard | 5.6% | 3.0% | Year round |
| 2 | Red-tailed Hawk | 3.4% | 1.4% | Year round |
| 3 | American Robin | 3.4% | 2.7% | Year round |
| 4 | House Finch | 3.2% | 1.7% | Year round |
| 5 | Canada Goose | 3.0% | 1.0% | Year round |
| 6 | Dark-eyed Junco | 2.8% | 0.78% | Year round |
| 7 | Ring-billed Gull | 2.7% | 0.37% | Year round |
| 8 | Bald Eagle | 2.7% | 0.33% | Year round |
| 9 | American Kestrel | 2.6% | 0.58% | Year round |
| 10 | American Coot | 2.5% | 0.81% | Year round |
| 11 | Northern Flicker | 2.4% | 0.72% | Year round |
| 12 | Northern Harrier | 2.0% | 0.17% | Winter visitor |
| 13 | Common Goldeneye | 1.7% | 0.04% | Winter visitor |
| 14 | White-crowned Sparrow | 1.7% | 0.62% | Year round |
| 15 | Lesser Goldfinch | 1.6% | 0.98% | Year round |
| 16 | Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay | 1.6% | 1.2% | Year round |
| 17 | Song Sparrow | 1.6% | 0.81% | Year round |
| 18 | Black-billed Magpie | 1.6% | 1.7% | Year round |
| 19 | Common Raven | 1.6% | 2.2% | Year round |
| 20 | Great Blue Heron | 1.6% | 1.2% | Year round |
Winter visitors to Utah
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 Utah that makes 3 species:
Northern Harrier
Circus hudsonius
2.0% of winter bird reports against 0.17% in summer, about 12 times the summer share.
Common Goldeneye
Bucephala clangula
1.7% of winter bird reports against 0.04% in summer, about 45 times the summer share.
Northern Shoveler
Spatula clypeata
1.2% of winter bird reports against 0.11% in summer, about 11 times the summer share.
When Utah’s top winter birds are reported
The eight birds with the most winter reports in Utah, 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.
Mallard
Peaks in December at 7.0%; winter 4.8%, summer 3.0%.
Red-tailed Hawk
Peaks in February at 3.6%; winter 3.4%, summer 1.4%.
American Robin
Peaks in April at 4.2%; winter 2.4%, summer 2.6%.
House Finch
Peaks in October at 2.9%; winter 2.4%, summer 1.7%.
Canada Goose
Peaks in April at 4.4%; winter 2.7%, summer 1.00%.
Dark-eyed Junco
Peaks in December at 3.2%; winter 2.9%, summer 0.78%.
Ring-billed Gull
Peaks in December at 4.6%; winter 2.7%, summer 0.41%.
Bald Eagle
Peaks in February at 3.7%; winter 3.0%, summer 0.35%.
Winter bird counts in Utah
Three counts run through the winter, each open to anyone in Utah 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 FeederWatchStarts 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 CountStarts 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 CountThe 2026 count: 8,257 species on 467,696 checklists, an estimated 1,146,284 participants.
Feeding birds in winter
From Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
“It is unlikely that bird feeders will contribute to an outbreak among songbirds, but if someone also has backyard poultry, then we recommend removing bird feeders during the outbreak.”
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
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, with Utah Division of Wildlife Resources first for Utah; each link opens the full page.
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 Utah
Compiled 2026-09-22 from research grade bird observation counts for Utah on iNaturalist, December to February, winters 2016-17 through 2025-26, against June to August, summers 2016 through 2025: 26,342 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 5.6% of them. Count dates and feeding guidance are quoted from the organisers and agencies linked above.