35 Winter Birds in Nebraska

Nebraska in January is a lot of sky, a lot of wind, and a lot of corn stubble that looks empty until it suddenly gets up and flies away as 400 Lapland Longspurs (I've been fooled by that field more times than I'd like to admit). The winter birds in Nebraska are better than the scenery suggests. Some stay all year, some fly down from the Arctic on purpose, and a few come downhill from the Rockies for the juniper berries.

The state bird hangs around too, at least some of it. Nebraska made the Western Meadowlark its official bird in 1929, and the Game and Parks Commission lists it as a fairly common winter visitor in the south and east, with numbers that swing a lot from year to year. Most of the summer singers leave, but plenty of meadowlarks spend the winter in Nebraska's fields and roadsides, quietly, which is not how most people know them.

Types of Winter Birds in Nebraska

There are 3 types of winter birds in Nebraska you'll see on this list:

Resident Nebraska Birds – found year-round, and many of them visit feeders
Winter Migrants / Visitors – birds that come to Nebraska for the winter, mostly from Canada and the Arctic, plus a few from the mountains to the west. Big reservoirs like Lake McConaughy and Harlan County Lake and the open stretches of the Platte River are where a lot of them gather
Irruptive Species – birds that show up in big, unpredictable numbers some winters (usually when seed and cone crops fail up north) and barely at all in others

Nebraska is wide enough that the east and west feel like two different states in winter. Omaha's feeders look a lot like Iowa's, while the Panhandle gets magpies, solitaires, and western forms of familiar birds. Each entry covers ID, male vs female, calls, where to find the bird in Nebraska, and its feeder favorites if it comes to feeders. If you're wondering where your summer regulars went, here's where birds go in the winter.

1. Northern Cardinal

Family – Cardinalidae
Species – Cardinalis cardinalis
Primary Activity Time – Dawn and Dusk
Diurnal
Resident Nebraska Bird

The Northern Cardinal is the bird that makes a snowy Lincoln backyard look staged. It eats seeds, fruit, and insects, and in winter it relies on sunflower, safflower, and whatever berries are left on the shrubs, feeding low and close to cover.

Males are bright red with a black mask around a thick orange-red bill. Females are warm tan-brown with red edging on the wings, crest, and tail. Both wear a pointed crest.

Cardinals give a sharp, metallic chip all winter, and on mild days late in the season males start whistling their cheer-cheer-cheer and birdie-birdie-birdie songs.

They're most common in eastern and central Nebraska, in towns, shelterbelts, and wooded river valleys, and they thin out toward the Panhandle. If you want them at your window, our guide to cardinals in winter covers what they eat and where they hide.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, safflower, cracked corn

2. Dark-eyed Junco

Family – Passerellidae
Species – Junco hyemalis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The Dark-eyed Junco is the original "snowbird," and it arrives in Nebraska from farther north each fall to spend the winter hopping around under feeders. It's a ground feeder that cleans up the seed messier birds drop, and it likes open, partly wooded spots with some brush nearby.

Nebraska is a junco crossroads. Most birds in the east are the "slate-colored" type: gray above, white belly, pale pink bill. Out west you'll also see "Oregon" types with a dark hood and rusty-brown back and sides. Males are crisper and darker, females softer and browner. Both flash white outer tail feathers when they flush.

The Dark-eyed Junco call is a sharp tik or smack, and flocks keep up a soft twitter while they feed.

You'll find juncos statewide in yards, woodland edges, and brushy draws, almost always on or near the ground.

Feeder favorites: millet, cracked corn, sunflower chips scattered on the ground

3. Black-capped Chickadee

Family – Paridae
Species – Poecile atricapillus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Nebraska Bird

The Black-capped Chickadee weighs about as much as a few paper clips and handles a Sandhills wind chill with more grace than I handle a cold car seat. It eats seeds, suet, and dormant insects and their eggs, which it picks out of bark crevices all winter.

It has a black cap and bib, white cheeks, a soft gray back, and buffy sides. Males and females look the same.

The Black-capped Chickadee call is the namesake chick-a-dee-dee-dee, and the more dee notes it adds, the more worked up it is. On sunny days in late winter, listen for the clear two-note fee-bee song.

Chickadees live statewide in woodlands, river corridors, parks, and neighborhoods. They're the only chickadee most Nebraskans will ever see, and they often lead the mixed flocks that nuthatches and woodpeckers follow. Their crested cousin, the Tufted Titmouse, is a resident only in Nebraska's southeast corner along the Missouri River, so don't feel bad if you've never had one.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, suet, peanuts

4. American Goldfinch

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Spinus tristis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Nebraska Bird

The American Goldfinch stays through the winter, but it trades summer's lemon yellow for olive and beige, so a lot of people assume it left. It's a strict seed eater that works over sunflower heads, coneflowers, and thistle, often hanging upside down to do it.

In winter, males keep a yellowish wash on the face and throat plus black wings with crisp white bars. Females are grayer and duller, with brownish wings. Both have a small, pale, cone-shaped bill.

The American Goldfinch call is a bouncy po-ta-to-chip given in flight, as the birds roller-coaster across the sky.

Look for goldfinches statewide in towns, weedy fields, prairie plantings, and anywhere with a tube feeder.

Feeder favorites: nyjer, sunflower chips, black oil sunflower

5. Downy Woodpecker

Family – Picidae
Species – Dryobates pubescens
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Nebraska Bird

The Downy Woodpecker is North America's smallest woodpecker, and it's usually the first one a new birder learns. It picks insects and larvae out of bark, twigs, and even weed stems, and it's a suet regular all winter. You'll often hear it drumming before you spot it.

It's black and white with a white stripe down the back and a short, stubby bill. Males have a small red patch on the back of the head, while females don't.

Listen for a soft, flat pik and a whinnying rattle that runs downhill in pitch.

Downies live statewide wherever there are trees: river woodlands, shelterbelts, town parks, and backyards.

Feeder favorites: suet, black oil sunflower, peanuts

6. Hairy Woodpecker

Family – Picidae
Species – Dryobates villosus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Nebraska Bird

The Hairy Woodpecker is the Downy's bigger look-alike: same outfit, bigger budget. It digs deeper into bark for beetle larvae and visits feeders for suet, though it's usually less common in yards than the Downy.

The giveaway is the bill, which is nearly as long as the head (the Downy's is short and stubby). Hairies are also noticeably larger and have clean white outer tail feathers. Males have a red patch on the back of the head, while females don't.

The Hairy Woodpecker call is a loud, sharp peek, stronger than the Downy's pik, plus a rattle that stays on one pitch.

Look for Hairies statewide in mature woodlands along the Missouri, Platte, and Niobrara Rivers and in older neighborhoods with big trees.

Feeder favorites: suet, peanuts, black oil sunflower

7. Red-bellied Woodpecker

Family – Picidae
Species – Melanerpes carolinus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Nebraska Bird

The Red-bellied Woodpecker is named for the faint pinkish wash on its belly, which you'll almost never see, while ignoring the very obvious red on its head. (Whoever names birds and I need to have a talk.) It eats acorns, nuts, fruit, and insects, stashes food in bark crevices, and is a regular at suet and peanut feeders.

It has a pale gray face and underparts and a black-and-white barred back. Males have red from the bill all the way over the crown to the nape, while females have red only on the nape.

The Red-bellied Woodpecker call is a rolling kwirr or churr that carries through bare winter woods.

It's most common in eastern Nebraska, in places like Wilderness Park in Lincoln and the river woodlands around Omaha, and it thins out to the west along the river valleys.

Feeder favorites: suet, peanuts, black oil sunflower

8. White-breasted Nuthatch

Family – Sittidae
Species – Sitta carolinensis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Nebraska Bird

The White-breasted Nuthatch spends most of the winter walking headfirst down tree trunks, which is roughly how I approach February. It wedges seeds and nuts into bark and hacks them open, which is where "nuthatch" comes from.

It's blue-gray above with a clean white face and breast and a rusty wash under the tail. Males have a glossy black cap, while females usually show a grayer or duller cap.

The White-breasted Nuthatch call is a nasal yank or quank, often given in a quick series.

You'll find it statewide in deciduous woods, river corridors, parks, and yards with mature trees, often traveling with chickadees.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, peanuts, suet

9. Red-breasted Nuthatch

Family – Sittidae
Species – Sitta canadensis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Irruptive Species

The Red-breasted Nuthatch is the smaller, louder nuthatch, and how many you see in Nebraska depends on the cone crop in Canada. In lean years up north, the Audubon Society of Omaha notes they head south looking for conifer seeds, and they'll take suet and peanuts at feeders too.

Males have a blue-gray back, a bold black cap and eye stripe, a white eyebrow, and a rusty-cinnamon breast. Females have a grayer cap and a paler, more peachy breast.

The Red-breasted Nuthatch call is a high, nasal yank-yank that sounds like a tiny toy horn.

Look for it in pines, spruces, and cedars statewide, including windbreaks, cemeteries, and the Pine Ridge. If you have evergreens in your yard, an irruption year can bring one right to your feeder.

Feeder favorites: suet, shelled peanuts, black oil sunflower

10. Blue Jay

Family – Corvidae
Species – Cyanocitta cristata
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Nebraska Bird

The Blue Jay is the neighborhood alarm system. It eats acorns, seeds, fruit, and insects, caches nuts for later, and lets everyone in the yard know the second a hawk shows up.

It's bright blue above with a crest, white underparts, black-and-white bars on the wings and tail, and a black necklace. Males and females look alike, though males are slightly larger on average.

The Blue Jay call is a loud jay-jay, but it also gives soft whistles, rusty-gate creaks, and a convincing imitation of a Red-shouldered or Red-tailed Hawk.

Some Blue Jays migrate, but plenty stay in eastern and central Nebraska all winter in towns, oak woods, and river valleys. They're scarcer in the Panhandle.

Feeder favorites: peanuts, black oil sunflower, suet

11. House Finch

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Haemorhous mexicanus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Nebraska Bird

The House Finch is a social seed eater that came east from the western U.S. and now lives in towns across Nebraska. It travels in noisy little flocks and settles in at tube and platform feeders for the winter.

Males have a rosy-red wash on the head, breast, and rump (some are more orange or yellow, depending on diet). Females are plain gray-brown with blurry streaks and no strong face pattern.

The House Finch song is a long, cheerful warble that often ends in a buzzy, rising note, and flocks give a chirpy cheep as they fly.

You'll find House Finches statewide in towns and farmsteads, wherever there are feeders and some shrubs for cover.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, sunflower chips, nyjer

12. Mourning Dove

Family – Columbidae
Species – Zenaida macroura
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident / Partial Migrant

The Mourning Dove fills its crop fast at the feeder and then flies off to digest somewhere quiet, which is a dining strategy I respect. Many leave Nebraska for the winter, but plenty stay, especially in the south and east.

It's a slim, soft gray-brown bird with black spots on the wings and a long, pointed tail edged in white. Males have a faint rosy breast and bluish-gray crown, while females are a bit browner overall.

The Mourning Dove call is a soft, sad coo-OO-oo-oo-oo that people often mistake for an owl. Their wings make a whistling twitter when they take off.

In winter they gather around farmsteads, grain fields, and backyard feeders, often in small flocks.

Feeder favorites: millet, cracked corn, black oil sunflower on a platform or the ground

13. Eurasian Collared-Dove

Family – Columbidae
Species – Streptopelia decaocto
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Nebraska Bird (Non-Native Species)

The Eurasian Collared-Dove is a newcomer. Nebraska's first one turned up at a feeder in Shelton in 1997, and within a year they were nesting in Kearney. Now they're a year-round resident statewide and especially common in small towns in western Nebraska, though their numbers have dropped there since about 2016.

It's bigger and paler than a Mourning Dove, a chalky gray-beige with a thin black half-collar on the back of the neck and a square-ended tail. Males and females look alike.

The Eurasian Collared-Dove call is a three-part coo-COO-cook, repeated over and over from rooftops and power lines, sometimes with a harsh, nasal flight call.

Look for them around grain elevators, farmyards, and town streets, where they come to feeders alongside Mourning Doves.

Feeder favorites: millet, cracked corn, black oil sunflower on a platform or the ground

14. House Sparrow

Family – Passeridae
Species – Passer domesticus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Nebraska Bird (Non-Native Species)

The House Sparrow is a non-native bird that lives wherever people do, and it isn't shy about it. It eats seeds and grain, mobs feeders in noisy flocks, and roosts in building eaves and dense shrubs to stay warm.

Males have a gray crown, chestnut sides of the head, and a black bib. Females are plain buffy brown with a pale stripe behind the eye and streaky brown backs.

The House Sparrow call is a constant, chirpy cheep or chirrup, usually from a whole group at once.

You'll find them statewide in towns, farmyards, feedlots, and around grain bins.

Feeder favorites: millet, cracked corn, sunflower seed

15. European Starling

Family – Sturnidae
Species – Sturnus vulgaris
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Nebraska Bird (Non-Native Species)

The European Starling is another non-native bird, and in winter it forms big flocks around feedlots, landfills, and towns. It eats insects, fruit, grain, and scraps, and it can empty a suet cake faster than you can refill it.

In fresh fall and winter plumage, it's glossy black covered in white and buff spots, with a dark bill. The spots wear off by spring, revealing purple and green sheen and a yellow bill. Males and females are very similar.

The European Starling song is a jumble of whistles, clicks, rattles, and mimicry of other birds and even car alarms.

Starlings are found statewide, most heavily around livestock operations and cities.

Feeder favorites: suet, cracked corn

16. Harris's Sparrow

Family – Passerellidae
Species – Zonotrichia querula
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

If there's one bird that makes the winter birds of Nebraska worth bragging about, it's the Harris's Sparrow. It breeds only in northern Canada and spends the winter in a narrow strip of the Great Plains, and Nebraska is right in it. Game and Parks calls it a common winter resident in the southern and eastern third of the state, arriving from late September and heading north by mid-March.

It's one of North America's biggest sparrows, with a pink bill and a black crown, face, and bib. Winter adults have a warm buffy face around the black, while first-winter birds show a white throat and a smaller, messier bib. Males and females look alike.

The Harris's Sparrow call is a loud chink, and the song is a set of clear, slightly sad whistles on one pitch.

Look in brushy edges beside fields at places like Lincoln Saline Wetland Nature Center, Chalco Hills Recreation Area in Omaha, Rowe Sanctuary near Gibbon, and Harlan County Reservoir. They come to backyards with brush piles too, and you don't need a special feeder: scattered seed on the ground near cover does the trick.

Feeder favorites: millet, cracked corn, sunflower chips on the ground

17. American Tree Sparrow

Family – Passerellidae
Species – Spizelloides arborea
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The American Tree Sparrow comes down from the Arctic for the winter and, despite the name, spends most of its time on the ground. (Bird names have the same accuracy rate as my weather app.) It eats weed and grass seeds in fields, ditches, and under feeders.

Look for a rusty cap and eye line, a gray face, a two-toned bill (dark on top, yellow below), and a dark spot in the middle of a plain gray breast. Males and females look alike.

The American Tree Sparrow call is a high tseet, and feeding flocks give a sweet, musical twitter.

They're common statewide in weedy fields, shelterbelts, marsh edges, and backyards with brush piles, often in flocks with juncos.

Feeder favorites: millet, cracked corn scattered on the ground

18. Western Meadowlark

Family – Icteridae
Species – Sturnella neglecta
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident / Winter Visitor (Nebraska State Bird)

The Western Meadowlark is Nebraska's state bird, and in summer it's the voice of every pasture. In winter it gets a lot quieter and moves around in loose flocks, eating weed seeds, waste grain, and any insects it can find on bare ground.

It's streaky brown above with a bright yellow throat and breast and a black V across the chest. The V is duller in fresh fall plumage. Males and females look alike, though males tend to be a bit brighter, and both flash white outer tail feathers in flight.

Winter meadowlarks mostly give a low chuck and a dry chatter, but on warm late-winter days you might hear the flutey, bubbling song early.

Numbers vary a lot by year, but winter flocks are most reliable in southern and eastern Nebraska, in pastures, stubble fields, and roadsides. One Christmas Bird Count at Kearney tallied 655 in December 2024.

19. American Robin

Family – Turdidae
Species – Turdus migratorius
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident / Partial Migrant

The American Robin is one of the most reported birds in Nebraska, and some of them stay all winter. They just stop hunting worms on the lawn and switch to berries, moving around in nomadic flocks, so it's easy to think they left.

Robins have a gray-brown back and a warm orange breast. Males have a darker, almost black head and a richer breast, while females are paler overall.

In winter you'll mostly hear their tut-tut alarm calls and a thin tseep flight note, not the cheerily-cheer-up song of spring.

Look in river valleys, cedar-lined draws, and towns with crabapples and junipers, especially near spring-fed creeks that stay open.

Feeder favorites: chopped apples, softened raisins, mealworms

20. Cedar Waxwing

Family – Bombycillidae
Species – Bombycilla cedrorum
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The Cedar Waxwing travels in tight, social flocks that move through fruiting trees like they've rehearsed it. In winter it lives almost entirely on berries from cedars, hawthorns, crabapples, and other fruiting trees, then moves on when the crop runs out.

It's a sleek, silky, brown-gray bird with a crest, a black mask, a yellow-tipped tail, and little red waxy tips on the wing feathers. Males and females look nearly the same, though males usually have a darker black chin.

The Cedar Waxwing call is a thin, high whistle, often given by the whole flock at once.

Look anywhere in Nebraska with Eastern Redcedar or ornamental fruit trees, from town parks to the cedar-choked canyons out west.

21. Townsend's Solitaire

Family – Turdidae
Species – Myadestes townsendi
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor (common west, rare east)

The Townsend's Solitaire is the Panhandle's winter mascot. Most of the solitaires that winter in Nebraska come down from the mountains of South Dakota and Wyoming, and Game and Parks calls them common in the west, uncommon in the center, and rare in the east. Each one claims a patch of junipers and defends its berries from all comers, which honestly is how I feel about the snack drawer.

It's a slim, plain gray thrush with a bold white eye ring, buffy patches in the wings that glow in flight, and white outer tail feathers. Males and females look alike.

The Townsend's Solitaire call is a single, clear, piping whistle, repeated at intervals from the top of a tree.

Look in juniper-covered hills and canyons at the Pine Ridge, Wildcat Hills, and around Scotts Bluff, usually perched upright on a treetop.

22. Black-billed Magpie

Family – Corvidae
Species – Pica hudsonia
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Nebraska Bird (uncommon, mostly west)

The Black-billed Magpie is a big, flashy crow relative that used to be found across Nebraska. Its range has shrunk to the west, and Game and Parks notes a sharp decline since the arrival of West Nile virus, so seeing one is a bigger deal than it used to be. It eats almost anything, from insects and grain to carrion.

It's crisp black and white with a very long tail that shines green and blue in the sun, and white patches that flash in the wings. Males and females look alike.

The Black-billed Magpie call is a harsh, rapid chek-chek-chek and a questioning mag?

Your best chances are in the Pine Ridge and the North Platte River Valley, around farmsteads, shelterbelts, and river woodlands. If you see one in eastern Nebraska, report it.

23. Horned Lark

Family – Alaudidae
Species – Eremophila alpestris
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident / Winter Visitor

The Horned Lark nests in Nebraska, and in winter its numbers swell as northern birds join in. It's a ground bird of wide-open, bare places, picking weed seeds and waste grain off plowed fields and gravel road shoulders.

It's sandy brown above with a pale belly, a yellowish or white face, a black mask and chest band, and two tiny black feather "horns." Males have bolder black markings and more obvious horns than females.

The Horned Lark call is a high, tinkling tsee-ee given as flocks lift off the road in front of your car.

Look along gravel back roads, stubble fields, and feedlots statewide, especially after fresh snow pushes them to the shoulders.

24. Lapland Longspur

Family – Calcariidae
Species – Calcarius lapponicus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The Lapland Longspur breeds on the Arctic tundra and spends the winter in Nebraska's fields in huge numbers. Game and Parks calls it an abundant winter visitor statewide, with the biggest flocks in the west, like the wheat stubble and sugar beet fields around Alliance and Hemingford.

In winter it's a streaky brown sparrow-like bird with a rusty patch on the wing, a buffy face framed in dark, and a long hind claw (the "spur"). Males show a hint of black on the chest and a rustier nape, while females are plainer.

The Lapland Longspur call is a dry rattle mixed with a soft tew, which is often the only clue you'll get from a flock zooming overhead.

Look for them in open fields statewide, often mixed with Horned Larks. During snowfalls, flocks sometimes gather over towns.

25. Snow Bunting

Family – Calcariidae
Species – Plectrophenax nivalis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor (uncommon)

The Snow Bunting is at the southern edge of its winter range in Nebraska, so it shows up every year, but not always in big numbers. It eats weed and grass seeds on windswept ground, and a flock flying up from a field looks like a snow squall that changed its mind.

In winter it's mostly white with warm tan on the head and back. Males show more white in the wings and darker backs, while females are browner and buffier, with less white.

The Snow Bunting call is a soft, rolling rattle and a clear whistled tew.

Look from late October to mid-March in open farm country, especially in the northeast and the Panhandle, and on the rocky riprap shorelines of reservoirs like Pawnee Lake.

26. Pine Siskin

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Spinus pinus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Irruptive Species

The Pine Siskin is a small, streaky finch that shows up at feeders in a sudden swarm, eats everything, and leaves. (I respect a guest who doesn't overstay.) It eats conifer, alder, and weed seeds and loves nyjer.

It's brown and heavily streaked with a thin, pointed bill and flashes of yellow in the wings and tail. Males tend to show more yellow than females, though it varies.

The Pine Siskin call is a rising, buzzy zreeee, like someone slowly zipping up a jacket, plus a twittering chatter.

Numbers swing hugely from year to year. Look in conifer windbreaks, cemeteries, and well-stocked feeders statewide, and in the pines of the Pine Ridge.

Feeder favorites: nyjer, sunflower chips

27. Redpoll

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Acanthis flammea
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Irruptive Species

You might know it as the Common or Hoary Redpoll, but in 2024 the American Ornithological Society lumped them into one species, now just called the Redpoll. In Nebraska it's an erratic winter visitor, mostly in the north and west and rare in the south, and some winters it skips the state entirely. A big influx in 2012 and 2013 brought an estimated 1,500 birds statewide.

It's a small, streaky finch with a red cap, a black chin, and a tiny yellow bill. Males have a rosy-pink wash on the breast, while females are streakier and lack the pink. Some birds are much frostier and whiter than others, which is where the old Hoary name came from.

The Redpoll call is a dry, rattling chit-chit-chit and a rising zweee.

Look for flocks at feeders and in birch, alder, and weedy fields from late October into March.

Feeder favorites: nyjer, sunflower chips

28. Bald Eagle

Family – Accipitridae
Species – Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident / Winter Migrant

The Bald Eagle is the headliner of Nebraska winter birding. Northern eagles pour in for the winter and gather wherever there's open water, fish, and waterfowl to eat. They feed most actively in the morning.

Adults are dark brown with a white head and tail and a big yellow bill. Young birds are mottled brown and white for their first four or five years. Males and females look alike, but females are larger.

The Bald Eagle call is a surprisingly weak, high-pitched chittering, nothing like the scream movies give them (that's usually a Red-tailed Hawk).

According to the Nebraska Birding Guide, Kingsley Dam at Lake McConaughy and Harlan County Dam are top Bald Eagle spots, with as many as 368 reported at Kingsley Dam in February and 150 to 400 at Harlan County Dam in January. Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District runs free eagle-viewing facilities at the J-2 Hydroplant and Kingsley Dam on weekend mornings from late December through February. DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge north of Omaha and Branched Oak Lake near Lincoln are good bets too.

29. Red-tailed Hawk

Family – Accipitridae
Species – Buteo jamaicensis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Nebraska Bird

The Red-tailed Hawk is the big hawk on the fence post, and in winter Nebraska's own birds are joined by more from the north. It hunts voles, mice, rabbits, and the occasional pheasant from a high perch over open ground.

Most adults have a pale chest, a dark belly band, and a brick-red tail. Nebraska gets a real mix of plumages in winter, from very pale "Krider's" birds to dark western birds and "Harlan's" types. Males and females look alike, though females are larger.

The Red-tailed Hawk call is a hoarse, screaming keee-ahhh, the sound Hollywood dubs over every eagle.

Look along interstates, county roads, and shelterbelts statewide, especially near pastures and hayfields.

30. Rough-legged Hawk

Family – Accipitridae
Species – Buteo lagopus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The Rough-legged Hawk nests in the Arctic and is a fairly common winter visitor across all of Nebraska, mostly in open country and big grasslands. It hunts voles and mice, and it often hovers in the wind like a giant kestrel before dropping on prey.

It has feathered legs all the way to the toes (the "rough legs"), a small bill, dark patches at the wrists under the wings, and a white tail base with a dark band at the tip. Some are light, some are nearly all dark. On light birds, females and young birds tend to have a solid dark belly band, while adult males are more mottled across the breast.

The Rough-legged Hawk call is a drawn-out, downslurred scream, though it's mostly quiet in winter.

Look over pastures, the Sandhills, and big crop fields statewide. Numbers can be high one winter and nearly zero the next.

31. Cooper's Hawk

Family – Accipitridae
Species – Astur cooperii
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Nebraska Bird

The Cooper's Hawk is the reason your feeder suddenly goes silent. It hunts songbirds and doves by ambush, flying fast and low through yards and around buildings. It's part of the deal of feeding birds, and the best help you can offer is dense shrubs or a brush pile nearby where small birds can dive for cover.

Adults are blue-gray above with fine orange barring below, a dark cap, and a long, rounded tail with a white tip. Males and females look alike, but females are much larger, nearly crow-sized. Young birds are brown with streaks.

The Cooper's Hawk call is a harsh cak-cak-cak, though it's mostly silent when hunting.

Look statewide in towns, wooded neighborhoods, and river woodlands, especially near feeders. The smaller Sharp-shinned Hawk winters here too and is easy to confuse with it.

32. Northern Shrike

Family – Laniidae
Species – Lanius borealis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The Northern Shrike is a songbird that hunts like a hawk. It catches small birds and rodents and sometimes stores them on thorns or barbed wire, which is why it's nicknamed the "butcher bird." Game and Parks calls it fairly common across the state in winter, though less so in the far southeast.

It's pale gray above, whitish below with faint barring, with a black mask, black wings and tail, and a hooked bill. Males and females are very similar, and young birds are browner.

The Northern Shrike call is a harsh, scolding chatter, with occasional odd whistles.

Look from late October to late March on treetops, utility wires, and fence lines in open country with scattered trees and shrubs.

33. Great Horned Owl

Family – Strigidae
Species – Bubo virginianus
Primary Activity Time – Night
Nocturnal
Resident Nebraska Bird

The Great Horned Owl doesn't wait for spring. It's one of the earliest nesting birds in North America, often on eggs by late winter, so January and February are prime time for hearing pairs hooting back and forth. It hunts rabbits, rodents, skunks, and birds.

It's a big, bulky owl with long ear tufts, yellow eyes, a white throat patch, and mottled gray-brown plumage. Males and females look alike, but females are larger, and in a duet the male's voice is deeper.

The Great Horned Owl call is a deep, soft hoo-h'HOO-hoo-hoo.

You'll find them statewide in river woodlands, shelterbelts, farmsteads, and city parks. At dusk, scan for the silhouette on a bare branch or a barn roof.

34. Snowy Owl

Family – Strigidae
Species – Bubo scandiacus
Primary Activity Time – Day and Dusk
Diurnal / Crepuscular
Irruptive Species (rare, some winters common)

The Snowy Owl arrives from the Arctic in some winters, and when it does, it's the bird everyone in Nebraska wants to see. Game and Parks lists it as rare but occasionally common statewide, usually from mid-November to mid-March, with a big irruption in 2011 to 2012.

It's a large, white owl with yellow eyes and no ear tufts. Adult males can be nearly pure white, while females and young birds are heavily barred with brown.

The Snowy Owl call is a deep hoot, but it's usually silent in winter.

Most Nebraska records come from near large lakes and rivers, in open farm fields and around airports. Please give them space. A stressed owl that keeps flushing burns energy it can't spare.

35. Trumpeter Swan

Family – Anatidae
Species – Cygnus buccinator
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident / Winter Migrant

The Trumpeter Swan is North America's largest native waterfowl, and it's having a moment in Nebraska. Winter counts have risen dramatically, and Game and Parks reports a large increase in wintering Trumpeter Swans in Nebraska, while the state's own breeding population in the Sandhills has grown too. They eat aquatic plants and roots, and in winter they gather where spring-fed water stays open.

It's all white with a long neck and a big, straight, all-black bill. Males and females look alike, and young birds (cygnets) are gray-brown.

The Trumpeter Swan call is a loud, brassy, honking bugle, like a bike horn with a sinus infection.

Look on spring-fed streams in the Sandhills, the North Platte River at Lake Ogallala, sandpit lakes along the Platte, DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, and Carter Lake in Omaha. They share open water in winter with Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, and plenty of geese.

Nebraska Winter Birds FAQ

What birds stay in Nebraska during the winter?

Year-round residents like the Northern Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadee, American Goldfinch, Blue Jay, White-breasted Nuthatch, Eurasian Collared-Dove, and Downy, Hairy, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers all stay put. They're joined by winter visitors like Dark-eyed Juncos, American Tree Sparrows, Harris's Sparrows, Lapland Longspurs, Rough-legged Hawks, and Northern Shrikes, plus irruptive finches some years. For what's at the feeders just across the Missouri River, see our guide to winter birds in Iowa.

What are the most common birds of Nebraska in winter?

At feeders, expect juncos, chickadees, goldfinches, cardinals, House Finches, nuthatches, woodpeckers, Blue Jays, and doves. Out in the country, the most common birds of Nebraska in winter are Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs, American Tree Sparrows, Red-tailed Hawks, and Bald Eagles near open water.

Does Nebraska's state bird stay in winter?

Some do. The Western Meadowlark is a fairly common winter visitor in southern and eastern Nebraska and less common elsewhere, but numbers change a lot from year to year. Wintering meadowlarks are quiet and travel in flocks in fields and pastures, so you'll see them more than hear them.

Where can I see Bald Eagles in Nebraska in winter?

Kingsley Dam at Lake McConaughy, the J-2 Hydroplant south of Lexington, and Harlan County Dam are the big three, with free viewing facilities at J-2 and Kingsley Dam on weekend mornings in winter. DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge and Branched Oak Lake are good options in the east. Go early in the day, when eagles are most active.

What is the best bird seed for Nebraska winter birds?

Black oil sunflower seed attracts the widest range of birds. Add suet for woodpeckers and nuthatches, nyjer for goldfinches and siskins, and millet scattered on the ground for juncos, tree sparrows, and Harris's Sparrows. Skip bread entirely, since it has almost no nutrition for birds. Water matters as much as food once everything freezes, so a heated bird bath is one of the best winter upgrades you can make.

When do Sandhill Cranes come to Nebraska?

Sandhill Cranes are a spring show, not a winter one. The first ones start arriving on the Platte River in late February, and the big numbers build through March, so the end of winter is the time to start planning a trip to the central Platte near Kearney and Gibbon.

Birds of Nebraska: Share What You're Seeing

Winter is a great time to get to know the birds of Nebraska, because the leaves are gone, the feeders do half the work, and the eagles are easy to find along open water. If you want company on an eagle-viewing trip or just want to show off your first Harris's Sparrow, the Sparkbird App helps you connect with other birders nearby and share what's showing up in your yard.

And if you spend all morning at Kingsley Dam and the only eagle you see is on the gas station sweatshirt, don't take it personally. The real ones were across the river, watching you not see them.