Winter Birds in Virginia
The Northern Cardinal, White-throated Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco lead the backyard birds reported in Virginia from December to February, from ten winters of iNaturalist reports.
The top winter birds in Virginia
The songbirds, woodpeckers and doves reported most in Virginia 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 White-throated Sparrow leads them here.
1Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
4.4% of winter bird reports
Year roundPhoto: “Male northern cardinal in Central Park (52612)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
2White-throated Sparrow
Zonotrichia albicollis
3.0% of winter bird reports
Winter visitorPhoto: “Zonotrichia albicollis CT1” by Cephas, CC BY-SA 3.0
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
4American Robin
Turdus migratorius
2.6% of winter bird reports
Year roundPhoto: “American robin (71307)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
5Eastern Bluebird
Sialia sialis
2.6% of winter bird reports
Year roundPhoto: “Sialia sialis -Michigan, USA -pair-8c” by Sandysphotos2009, CC BY 2.0
6Downy Woodpecker
Dryobates pubescens
2.5% of winter bird reports
Year roundPhoto: “Dryobates pubescens UL 03” by Cephas, CC BY-SA 4.0
7Song Sparrow
Melospiza melodia
2.5% of winter bird reports
Year roundPhoto: “Song sparrow in Prospect Park (93031)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
8Carolina Wren
Thryothorus ludovicianus
2.1% of winter bird reports
Year roundPhoto: “Carolina wren (14391)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
Every bird reported most in Virginia 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 | Northern Cardinal | 4.4% | 3.5% | Year round |
| 2 | Mallard | 3.2% | 2.2% | Year round |
| 3 | Canada Goose | 3.1% | 2.0% | Year round |
| 4 | White-throated Sparrow | 3.0% | 0.01% | Winter visitor |
| 5 | Red-shouldered Hawk | 2.8% | 1.3% | Year round |
| 6 | Dark-eyed Junco | 2.8% | 0.29% | Year round |
| 7 | American Robin | 2.6% | 2.6% | Year round |
| 8 | Great Blue Heron | 2.6% | 4.3% | Year round |
| 9 | Eastern Bluebird | 2.6% | 2.1% | Year round |
| 10 | Downy Woodpecker | 2.5% | 1.0% | Year round |
| 11 | Song Sparrow | 2.5% | 1.2% | Year round |
| 12 | Carolina Wren | 2.1% | 1.9% | Year round |
| 13 | Bald Eagle | 2.1% | 0.94% | Year round |
| 14 | Northern Mockingbird | 2.0% | 2.1% | Year round |
| 15 | Red-bellied Woodpecker | 1.9% | 0.81% | Year round |
| 16 | House Finch | 1.9% | 1.4% | Year round |
| 17 | Hooded Merganser | 1.8% | 0.08% | Winter visitor |
| 18 | House Sparrow | 1.7% | 2.0% | Year round |
| 19 | Ring-billed Gull | 1.7% | 0.20% | Year round |
| 20 | Mourning Dove | 1.6% | 2.2% | Year round |
Winter visitors to Virginia
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 Virginia that makes 6 species:
White-throated Sparrow
Zonotrichia albicollis
3.0% of winter bird reports against 0.01% in summer, about 255 times the summer share.
Hooded Merganser
Lophodytes cucullatus
1.8% of winter bird reports against 0.08% in summer, about 21 times the summer share.
Bufflehead
Bucephala albeola
1.3% of winter bird reports and no summer reports at all.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Setophaga coronata
1.3% of winter bird reports against 0.02% in summer, about 54 times the summer share.
Ring-necked Duck
Aythya collaris
1.2% of winter bird reports against 0.02% in summer, about 60 times the summer share.
Hermit Thrush
Catharus guttatus
1.1% of winter bird reports against 0.03% in summer, about 41 times the summer share.
When Virginia’s top winter birds are reported
The eight birds with the most winter reports in Virginia, 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.
Northern Cardinal
Peaks in April at 5.0%; winter 4.2%, summer 3.5%.
Mallard
Peaks in February at 4.4%; winter 3.2%, summer 2.2%.
Canada Goose
Peaks in February at 4.6%; winter 3.1%, summer 2.0%.
White-throated Sparrow
Peaks in January at 3.2%; winter 2.9%, summer 0.01%.
Red-shouldered Hawk
Peaks in December at 3.2%; winter 2.8%, summer 1.3%.
Dark-eyed Junco
Peaks in January at 3.0%; winter 2.5%, summer 0.30%.
American Robin
Peaks in March at 5.5%; winter 2.6%, summer 2.5%.
Great Blue Heron
Peaks in August at 4.5%; winter 2.7%, summer 4.3%.
Winter bird counts in Virginia
Three counts run through the winter, each open to anyone in Virginia 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 FeederWatchStarts 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 CountStarts 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 CountThe 2026 count: 8,257 species on 467,696 checklists, an estimated 1,146,284 participants.
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.
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 Virginia
Compiled 2026-09-22 from research grade bird observation counts for Virginia on iNaturalist, December to February, winters 2016-17 through 2025-26, against June to August, summers 2016 through 2025: 90,023 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 4.4% of them. Count dates and feeding guidance are quoted from the organisers and agencies linked above.