Winter Birds in Washington 2026: Top Backyard Birds

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

The perching birds, woodpeckers and doves reported most in Washington in winter are the Dark-eyed Junco (2.6%), Song Sparrow (2.6%), American Robin (2.5%), American Crow (1.8%) and Northern Flicker (1.6%). 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 Washington only for the winter?

In the Washington record the winter visitors are the Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, American Wigeon, Barrow's Goldeneye, Surf Scoter and Golden-crowned 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 Washington?

The Mallard, with 4.8% of all research grade winter bird reports for Washington (4,970 reports over ten winters). Among feeder birds the leader is the Dark-eyed Junco at 2.6%.

Q: When is the Christmas Bird Count in Washington?

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

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 Washington winter bird numbers counted?

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

The songbirds, woodpeckers and doves reported most in Washington 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 Bufflehead leads them here.

1
Dark-eyed Junco
Junco hyemalis
2.6% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Junco hyemalis hyemalis CT1 (cropped)” by Cephas, CC BY-SA 3.0
2
Song Sparrow
Melospiza melodia
2.6% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Song sparrow in Prospect Park (93031)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
3
American Robin
Turdus migratorius
2.5% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “American robin (71307)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
4
American Crow
Corvus brachyrhynchos
1.8% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Corvus-brachyrhynchos-001” by Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0
5
Northern Flicker
Colaptes auratus
1.6% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Northern yellow-shafted flicker male (33737) (cropped)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
6
Spotted Towhee
Pipilo maculatus
1.5% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Spotted Towhee (32684403303)” by Becky Matsubara from El Sobrante, California, CC BY 2.0
7
Varied Thrush
Ixoreus naevius
1.5% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Varied thrush (73976)” by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
8
Black-capped Chickadee
Poecile atricapillus
1.4% of winter bird reports
Year round
Photo: “Poecile-atricapilla-001” by No machine-readable author provided. Mdf assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0

Every bird reported most in Washington 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 Washington: 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	Mallard	4.8%	4.1%	Year round
2	Bald Eagle	3.9%	2.7%	Year round
3	Bufflehead	2.8%	0.04%	Winter visitor
4	Great Blue Heron	2.7%	3.9%	Year round
5	Dark-eyed Junco	2.6%	2.7%	Year round
6	Song Sparrow	2.6%	2.3%	Year round
7	American Robin	2.5%	3.0%	Year round
8	Common Goldeneye	2.2%	0.05%	Winter visitor
9	American Wigeon	2.2%	0.04%	Winter visitor
10	Double-crested Cormorant	1.9%	0.50%	Year round
11	Red-tailed Hawk	1.9%	0.93%	Year round
12	Anna's Hummingbird	1.9%	1.3%	Year round
13	American Crow	1.8%	2.9%	Year round
14	Canada Goose	1.7%	2.3%	Year round
15	Northern Flicker	1.6%	1.7%	Year round
16	Hooded Merganser	1.5%	0.57%	Year round
17	Spotted Towhee	1.5%	1.6%	Year round
18	Varied Thrush	1.5%	0.15%	Year round
19	Barrow's Goldeneye	1.4%	0.05%	Winter visitor
20	Black-capped Chickadee	1.4%	1.0%	Year round

Here for the winter

Winter visitors to Washington

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 Washington that makes 10 species at the top of the list:

Bufflehead
Bucephala albeola
2.8% of winter bird reports against 0.04% in summer, about 72 times the summer share.
Common Goldeneye
Bucephala clangula
2.2% of winter bird reports against 0.05% in summer, about 42 times the summer share.
American Wigeon
Mareca americana
2.2% of winter bird reports against 0.04% in summer, about 54 times the summer share.
Barrow's Goldeneye
Bucephala islandica
1.4% of winter bird reports against 0.05% in summer, about 28 times the summer share.
Surf Scoter
Melanitta perspicillata
1.3% of winter bird reports against 0.12% in summer, about 11 times the summer share.
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Zonotrichia atricapilla
1.1% of winter bird reports against 0.00% in summer, about 406 times the summer share.
Horned Grebe
Podiceps auritus
1.1% of winter bird reports against 0.02% in summer, about 47 times the summer share.
Ring-necked Duck
Aythya collaris
1.1% of winter bird reports against 0.09% in summer, about 13 times the summer share.
Trumpeter Swan
Cygnus buccinator
1.1% of winter bird reports against 0.03% in summer, about 40 times the summer share.
Northern Pintail
Anas acuta
1.1% of winter bird reports against 0.04% in summer, about 26 times the summer share.

Through the year

When Washington’s top winter birds are reported

The eight birds with the most winter reports in Washington, 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 7.7%; winter 4.9%, summer 4.1%.

Bald Eagle

Peaks in January at 4.2%; winter 3.8%, summer 2.7%.

Bufflehead

Peaks in November at 2.8%; winter 2.7%, summer 0.04%.

Great Blue Heron

Peaks in August at 4.2%; winter 2.6%, summer 4.0%.

Dark-eyed Junco

Peaks in May at 3.1%; winter 2.7%, summer 2.7%.

Song Sparrow

Peaks in April at 3.2%; winter 2.5%, summer 2.2%.

American Robin

Peaks in April at 4.2%; winter 2.5%, summer 2.9%.

Common Goldeneye

Peaks in February at 2.4%; winter 2.1%, summer 0.05%.

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

Three counts run through the winter, each open to anyone in Washington 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 Washington

What birds are at feeders in Washington in winter?

Which birds come to Washington only for the winter?

What is the most reported winter bird in Washington?

When is the Christmas Bird Count in Washington?

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

How often should a bird feeder be cleaned in Washington?

How are the Washington winter bird numbers counted?

Compiled 2026-09-22 from research grade bird observation counts for Washington on iNaturalist, December to February, winters 2016-17 through 2025-26, against June to August, summers 2016 through 2025: 103,189 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 4.8% of them. Count dates and feeding guidance are quoted from the organisers and agencies linked above.

Snowy owls in WashingtonThe big white owl of open country, winter by winter, with the northern finches that move with it.Fall migration in WashingtonCranes, geese, hawks and songbirds on the way south, the season that sets up the winter feeder.Eagle watching in WashingtonBald eagles gather at open water in the coldest weeks, the other great winter bird show.

Winter Birds in Washington

The top winter birds in Washington

Dark-eyed Junco

Song Sparrow

American Robin

American Crow

Northern Flicker

Spotted Towhee

Varied Thrush

Black-capped Chickadee

Every bird reported most in Washington in winter

Winter visitors to Washington

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

American Wigeon

Barrow's Goldeneye

Surf Scoter

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Horned Grebe

Ring-necked Duck

Trumpeter Swan

Northern Pintail

When Washington’s top winter birds are reported

Mallard

Bald Eagle

Bufflehead

Great Blue Heron

Dark-eyed Junco

Song Sparrow

American Robin

Common Goldeneye

Winter bird counts in Washington

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 Washington