34 Winter Birds in Virginia

Virginia is where a lot of northern birds go for the winter, which makes it the Florida of the bird world for anyone raised in Quebec (I've been called a snowbird too, but only because I complain about the cold from October onward). The winter birds in Virginia are a mix of year-round locals and visitors who flew hundreds of miles to get here, so your feeder gets busier in January, not quieter.

The state bird is a local. The Northern Cardinal was named Virginia's official bird in 1950, and it stays all winter, glowing red against the bare branches like it's auditioning for a holiday card. Joining it are the arrivals: Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows under the feeders, and thousands of swans, geese, and ducks along the coast. The Virginia DWR's winter birding guide puts it plainly: coastal Virginia has the widest variety of species in the greatest numbers in winter.

Types of Winter Birds in Virginia

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

Resident Virginia Birds – found year-round, and many of them visit feeders
Winter Migrants / Visitors – birds that breed farther north and come to Virginia for the winter. Look for them in hot spots like Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, where waterfowl numbers usually peak in December and January
Irruptive Species – birds that show up in big, unpredictable numbers some winters (and barely at all in others), usually when seed and cone crops fail up north

Each of these winter birds of Virginia comes with ID tips, male vs female differences, calls, where to find it in the state, and its feeder favorites if it visits feeders. If you're curious where the summer crowd went, here's where birds go in the winter.

1. Northern Cardinal

Family – Cardinalidae
Species – Cardinalis cardinalis
Primary Activity Time – Dawn and Dusk
Diurnal
Virginia State Bird (Resident Virginia Bird)

The Northern Cardinal tops the list for a reason: it was the number one bird in Project FeederWatch's Southeast rankings, seen at nearly 98 percent of reporting feeders. It eats seeds, berries, and insects, and in winter it leans hard on sunflower and safflower.

Males are bright red with a black mask around the bill. Females are warm tan-brown with red edging on the wings, tail, and crest, plus the same thick orange-red bill. Both wear the crest, which goes up and down depending on mood (relatable).

The song is a loud, clear whistle, often written as cheer-cheer-cheer or birdie-birdie-birdie, and the call is a sharp metallic chip. Cardinals start singing again on mild winter mornings, well before spring.

Cardinals live statewide, from Arlington backyards to farm hedgerows in the Shenandoah Valley, anywhere with thick shrubs for cover. If you want more of them, here's our guide to cardinals in winter: where they go, what they eat, and how to attract them.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, safflower, cracked corn on a platform

2. Carolina Chickadee

Family – Paridae
Species – Poecile carolinensis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Virginia Bird

Most of Virginia is Carolina Chickadee country, not Black-capped. It's a tiny, fearless bird with a black cap and bib, white cheeks, and a soft gray back, and it eats insects, seeds, and berries. Chickadees hide food in bark crevices to eat later, so they're basically meal-prepping.

Males and females look the same. The Black-capped Chickadee only turns up in a few of the highest mountains in southwest Virginia, and it has a bit more white in the wing, but most Virginia chickadees you see are Carolinas.

The song is a four-note whistle, fee-bee-fee-bay, faster and higher than the Black-capped's two-note fee-bee. The call is the classic chick-a-dee-dee-dee, with more dees meaning more alarm.

You'll find them statewide in woods, parks, and yards, often leading mixed winter flocks with titmice, nuthatches, and woodpeckers.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, suet, shelled peanuts

3. Tufted Titmouse

Family – Paridae
Species – Baeolophus bicolor
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Virginia Bird

The Tufted Titmouse is the chickadee's crested sidekick, a little gray bird with big black eyes, a pointed crest, and peachy flanks. It grabs one seed at a time from the feeder, flies off to hammer it open, and comes right back.

Males and females look alike, though males tend to be slightly bigger.

The song is a loud whistled peter-peter-peter, and it's one of the first songs you'll hear on a sunny February morning. Its scolding call sounds like a raspier chickadee.

Titmice are statewide in deciduous and mixed woods, older neighborhoods, and parks. They nest in tree cavities and nest boxes, so they're often the first birds to check out a new box.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, peanuts, suet

4. Carolina Wren

Family – Troglodytidae
Species – Thryothorus ludovicianus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Virginia Bird

The Carolina Wren is a round, rusty-brown bird with a bold white eyebrow and a cocked-up tail. It mostly eats insects and spiders, picked out of brush piles, woodpiles, and porch corners.

Males and females look alike. Pairs stay together year-round and defend their territory as a team.

For such a small bird, the song is ridiculously loud: a rolling teakettle-teakettle-teakettle that the male sings all year, even in winter. Pairs also trade rattling chatters.

Carolina Wrens live statewide, especially in thickets, overgrown yards, and woodland edges. Harsh winters can knock their numbers back, so a brush pile in the yard really helps them.

Feeder favorites: suet, mealworms, peanut pieces

5. Dark-eyed Junco

Family – Passerellidae
Species – Junco hyemalis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor (resident in the highest mountains)

The Dark-eyed Junco is the bird that tells you winter has officially started. According to the Virginia DWR, juncos live year-round only in Virginia's highest elevations, and everywhere else they're winter visitors, arriving in fall from the north.

Virginia's juncos are the "slate-colored" type: dark gray above, white belly, and a pale pink bill. Males are a crisper, darker gray, while females are paler and browner. Both flash white outer tail feathers when they flush.

The call is a sharp tick or smack, and flocks give a twittery chatter. The song is a quick, even trill.

Look for them in small flocks on the ground under feeders and along brushy edges statewide.

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

6. White-throated Sparrow

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

The White-throated Sparrow is one of the most common winter migrants in Virginia, ranking in the top 15 Southeast feeder birds. It breeds in Canada's forests and spends the winter scratching through leaf litter here.

Look for a crisp white throat, a yellow spot between the eye and bill, and a striped head. The head stripes come in two forms, white-striped and tan-striped, and both forms show up in males and females, so the stripes don't tell you the sex.

The song is a clear, whistled Oh-sweet-Canada-Canada-Canada (or Old-Sam-Peabody if you're from New England). In winter you'll mostly hear a thin tseet and a sharp chink.

Find them statewide in thickets, hedgerows, and shrubby yards, usually in small flocks with juncos.

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

7. Mourning Dove

Family – Columbidae
Species – Zenaida macroura
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Virginia Bird

The Mourning Dove was the number two bird in the Southeast FeederWatch rankings, and it eats like it knows it. It fills its crop with seeds fast, then flies off to digest somewhere safe, which is honestly how I handle a holiday buffet.

It's a slender, soft gray-brown bird with black wing spots and a long, pointed tail. Males have a pinkish breast and a bluish crown, while females are a little browner and plainer.

The call is a soft, mournful coo-OO-oo-oo-oo, often mistaken for an owl. Their wings whistle when they take off.

Mourning Doves are statewide, especially in farm country and suburbs, and they gather in winter flocks.

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

8. American Goldfinch

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

The American Goldfinch is still here in winter, just wearing its off-season outfit. Summer's lemon yellow becomes a dull olive-brown, so plenty of people assume their goldfinches left when they're actually right there on the feeder.

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

The flight call is a bouncy po-ta-to-chip, given as the bird dips up and down through the air.

Goldfinches are statewide in weedy fields, woodland edges, and yards with tube feeders, and their numbers often rise in winter as northern birds move in.

Feeder favorites: nyjer, sunflower chips, black oil sunflower

9. Red-bellied Woodpecker

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

The Red-bellied Woodpecker has a name that seems designed to confuse beginners, because the red you'll actually notice is on its head. The "red belly" is a faint pinkish wash you'll rarely see unless it's clinging to your suet cage.

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

The call is a rolling kwirr or churr, one of the most common sounds in Virginia's winter woods.

It's statewide in woods, wooded suburbs, and river corridors, and it stores acorns and nuts in bark cracks.

Feeder favorites: suet, peanuts, black oil sunflower

10. Downy Woodpecker

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

The Downy Woodpecker is the smallest woodpecker in Virginia, small enough to forage on weed stems and thin twigs. It eats insects and larvae from bark and readily visits suet feeders.

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, and females don't. The nearly identical Hairy Woodpecker is bigger, with a bill about as long as its head.

The call is a soft pik, and it also gives a descending, whinnying rattle.

Downies are statewide in woods, parks, orchards, and yards, and they often travel with chickadee flocks.

Feeder favorites: suet, black oil sunflower, peanuts

11. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Family – Picidae
Species – Sphyrapicus varius
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is a real bird, despite sounding like an insult from a cartoon. It drills neat rows of small holes in tree bark, then comes back to lick up the sap and any insects stuck in it.

Both sexes have a red forehead, a bold black-and-white face, and a long white wing stripe. Males have a red throat, while females have a white throat. The "yellow belly" is a pale yellowish wash.

Its call is a nasal, catlike mew, and its drumming sounds like irregular Morse code, with a few fast taps that slow down.

Sapsuckers winter throughout Virginia in woods, orchards, and yards with mature trees. Look for the tidy rows of sap wells on trunks to know one's been around.

Feeder favorites: suet, now and then

12. Blue Jay

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

The Blue Jay is loud, bossy, and very good at peanuts. It eats acorns, seeds, fruit, and insects, and buries acorns for later, which helps oak forests spread.

Males and females look alike, with bright blue upperparts, a black necklace, and white underparts. Males are slightly larger.

Blue Jays make a harsh jay-jay scream, soft whistled notes, and a near-perfect imitation of a Red-shouldered or Red-tailed Hawk, likely to warn other jays (or just to clear the feeder).

They're statewide in woods, towns, and yards, especially near oaks.

Feeder favorites: peanuts in the shell, black oil sunflower, suet

13. White-breasted Nuthatch

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

The White-breasted Nuthatch spends winter going headfirst down tree trunks, which is about how I feel by February. It wedges seeds into bark and hacks them open with its bill.

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

The call is a nasal yank-yank, lower than the Red-breasted Nuthatch's tin-horn toot.

It's statewide in deciduous woods, parks, and neighborhoods with big trees, usually traveling with chickadees and titmice.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, peanuts, suet

14. Brown-headed Nuthatch

Family – Sittidae
Species – Sitta pusilla
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Virginia Bird (uncommon, southeastern Virginia)

The Brown-headed Nuthatch is a tiny pine specialist, and it's a bird a lot of northern birders come to Virginia hoping to see. It eats pine seeds and insects and even uses bark flakes as tools to pry up other bark.

Look for a brown cap, a white throat, and a blue-gray back. Males and females look alike.

The call is a squeaky kew-kew, often compared to a squeezed rubber ducky.

In Virginia, it's a southeastern bird, found in the open pine woods of the coastal plain and Eastern Shore. It even made the list on the Virginia Society of Ornithology's 2024 winter weekend field trip to the coast.

Feeder favorites: sunflower chips, suet

15. Red-breasted Nuthatch

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

The Red-breasted Nuthatch is a small, busy nuthatch that comes south from northern conifer forests in big numbers some winters and barely shows up in others, depending on cone crops.

It has a black eye stripe, white eyebrow, blue-gray back, and rusty-orange underparts. Males have a black cap and deeper color, while females have a grayer cap and paler belly.

The call is a high, nasal yank-yank, like a tiny tin horn.

In flight years, look for them in pines and spruces statewide, at feeders, and at the Chincoteague visitor center feeders.

Feeder favorites: suet, shelled peanuts, black oil sunflower

16. Northern Mockingbird

Family – Mimidae
Species – Mimus polyglottos
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Virginia Bird

The Northern Mockingbird guards a berry bush in winter like it's the last parking spot at the mall. Many hold winter feeding territories and chase off other birds that try to eat "their" fruit.

It's gray with white wing patches that flash in flight and a long tail with white edges. Males and females look alike.

In winter it mostly gives a harsh chack call, but on mild days it may sing its long string of copied songs, sometimes repeating each phrase a few times before switching.

Mockingbirds are statewide in towns, suburbs, and farmland with hedges and fruiting shrubs.

Feeder favorites: suet, chopped fruit, mealworms

17. Eastern Bluebird

Family – Turdidae
Species – Sialia sialis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Virginia Bird

The Eastern Bluebird is still around in winter, often in small flocks. When insects are scarce, it switches mostly to berries like holly, sumac, and dogwood.

Males are bright blue above with a rusty throat and breast. Females are grayer, with blue on the wings and tail and a softer orange breast.

The call is a soft, sweet tu-a-wee. In cold snaps, bluebirds sometimes pile into a nest box together to stay warm.

Bluebirds are statewide in open fields, pastures, golf courses, and orchards. A roosting box can help them through cold nights.

Feeder favorites: mealworms, suet, chopped fruit

18. American Robin

Family – Turdidae
Species – Turdus migratorius
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Virginia Bird & Winter Migrant

The American Robin doesn't leave Virginia in winter. It just stops hanging out on your lawn. Winter robins travel in big, roaming flocks and eat fruit, so you'll find them in holly, cedar, and crabapple trees.

Males have a darker head and a deeper brick-orange breast. Females are paler overall.

In winter you'll mostly hear clucking tut-tut calls and a high seee, not the cheery spring song.

They're statewide, and big flocks gather where fruit is plentiful, especially in milder eastern Virginia.

Feeder favorites: chopped apples, softened raisins, mealworms

19. Cedar Waxwing

Family – Bombycillidae
Species – Bombycilla cedrorum
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident / Winter Migrant (nomadic)

The Cedar Waxwing looks like it was styled for a photo shoot, with a sleek crest, black mask, and yellow-tipped tail. It eats fruit almost exclusively in winter and moves in tight, roaming flocks.

Males and females look very similar. Males tend to have a slightly darker black chin.

The call is a very high, thin sree whistle that many people can't hear until a whole flock lands at once.

They wander statewide, wherever there are cedar berries, holly, or crabapples. One day you'll have 60 of them, the next day zero.

20. Yellow-rumped Warbler

Family – Parulidae
Species – Setophaga coronata
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The Yellow-rumped Warbler is one of the few warblers that winters in Virginia, thanks to its ability to digest the waxy berries of wax myrtle and bayberry. It made the Southeast FeederWatch top 25, too.

In winter, it's brownish with soft streaks, yellow patches on the sides, and that bright yellow rump. Males tend to be grayer and crisper, and females browner.

The call is a sharp chek, which you'll hear constantly in coastal thickets.

They're most common in eastern Virginia, especially along the coast. Back Bay NWR's trails are full of them in winter.

Feeder favorites: suet, peanut butter mixes

21. Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Family – Regulidae
Species – Corthylio calendula
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a tiny olive bird that flicks its wings constantly, like it's had too much coffee. It eats tiny insects and spider eggs from twigs and leaves.

It has a white eye ring and white wing bars. The red crown patch shows up only on males, and only when they're excited, so most days you won't see it.

The call is a dry, scolding ji-dit.

Kinglets winter statewide in woods, thickets, and parks, often tagging along with chickadee flocks.

22. Eastern Towhee

Family – Passerellidae
Species – Pipilo erythrophthalmus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Virginia Bird

The Eastern Towhee is a big, handsome sparrow that scratches the leaf litter with a two-footed backward hop. If the dead leaves under your shrubs are rustling loudly, it's probably a towhee and not a bear.

Males have a black hood and back, rusty sides, and a white belly. Females have the same pattern, but in warm brown instead of black.

The call is a rising chewink. The song, a clear drink-your-tea, comes back in spring.

Towhees are statewide in thickets, woodland edges, and overgrown yards.

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

23. Song Sparrow

Family – Passerellidae
Species – Melospiza melodia
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Virginia Bird & Winter Migrant

The Song Sparrow is the streaky brown sparrow you'll see in almost every habitat. Virginia has year-round Song Sparrows, and more arrive from the north for winter.

Look for heavy brown streaks that come together into a central breast spot, plus a long, rounded tail that it pumps in flight. Males and females look alike.

The call is a husky chimp, and on mild days males sing their busy, jumbled song.

They're statewide in brushy fields, marsh edges, and yards with shrubs.

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

24. House Finch

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

The House Finch is a familiar feeder bird across Virginia. Originally from the West, it became established in the East after birds were released in New York in the 1940s.

Males have a rosy-red head and chest (some are more orange or yellow, depending on diet). Females are plain brown with blurry streaks and no bold face pattern.

The song is a long, cheerful warble that often ends in a buzzy note.

House Finches are statewide in towns, suburbs, and farms.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, nyjer

25. Purple Finch

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Haemorhous purpureus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor (numbers vary by year)

The Purple Finch is the bird that makes you look twice at every House Finch. It comes down from northern forests in winter, more in some years than others.

Males look like they've been dipped in raspberry juice, with the color covering the head, back, and wings. Females are brown and streaky but have a bold white eyebrow and dark cheek, which female House Finches lack.

The flight call is a short, dull pik.

Look for them in woods and at feeders statewide, including the Chincoteague visitor center feeders.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower

26. Pine Siskin

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

The Pine Siskin is a small, streaky finch with flashes of yellow in the wings and tail. It's a classic irruptive bird: some winters flocks pour into Virginia, other winters you'll be lucky to find one.

Males and females look similar, though males usually show more yellow.

The call is a rising, buzzy zreee that sounds like someone zipping up a jacket, plus a lot of twittering.

In flight years, look for them at nyjer feeders statewide and in conifers and sweetgum trees. Roanoke-area birders recommend watching for them in winter.

Feeder favorites: nyjer, sunflower chips

27. Tundra Swan

Family – Anatidae
Species – Cygnus columbianus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The Tundra Swan flies all the way from the Arctic to spend the winter in Virginia. The Back Bay refuge says thousands of Tundra Swans visit in fall and winter, which makes January there the hottest ticket in town (in a cold, windy, bring-a-hat way).

It's all white with a black bill, often with a small yellow spot in front of the eye. Its black bill and legs separate it from the non-native Mute Swan, which has an orange bill. Males and females look alike, and gray young birds travel with their parents.

Its call is a high, whistling hoot, and a flock overhead sounds like distant geese with better pitch.

Look for them at Back Bay NWR, Swan Cove at Chincoteague, and other big coastal bays and marshes.

28. Snow Goose

Family – Anatidae
Species – Anser caerulescens
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The Snow Goose is the coastal winter show. Huge flocks rise off the marshes all at once with a roar of honks, which is the closest thing Virginia has to a blizzard most years.

It's white with black wingtips and a pink bill with a dark "grin patch." Some birds are the dark "Blue Goose" form, with a gray-brown body and white head. Males and females look alike.

The call is a high, nasal whouk, given constantly by the flock.

Find them at Chincoteague (where flocks roost on the beach at Toms Cove), Back Bay NWR, and coastal fields on the Eastern Shore.

29. Bufflehead

Family – Anatidae
Species – Bucephala albeola
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The Bufflehead is the smallest diving duck in North America, nicknamed the "butterball." It breeds in Canada and Alaska and winters on Virginia's bays, rivers, and lakes.

Males are white below with a black back and a big white patch on the back of a dark, glossy head. Females are gray-brown with a neat white oval on the cheek.

They're mostly quiet in winter, but you'll see them diving again and again, popping back up like corks.

Look for them across the Chesapeake Bay, off Kiptopeke State Park, and on inland lakes and reservoirs.

30. Hooded Merganser

Family – Anatidae
Species – Lophodytes cucullatus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor (some resident)

The Hooded Merganser is a small diving duck with one of the best haircuts in the bird world. It eats small fish, crayfish, and aquatic insects.

Males have a black head with a white fan-shaped crest they can raise and lower, plus rusty sides. Females are gray-brown with a fluffy cinnamon crest.

During courtship, males throw their heads backward and make a croak like a frog, which is not the noise you expect from something that good-looking.

Find them on ponds, rivers, and wooded swamps statewide, from Northern Virginia to the coast.

31. Northern Gannet

Family – Sulidae
Species – Morus bassanus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The Northern Gannet is a big seabird that dives headfirst into the ocean from high up. The Virginia DWR says it can swim as deep as 72 feet underwater, which is deeper than I'll go in a pool.

Adults are bright white with black wingtips and a pale yellow head. Young birds are dark brown with white speckles and get whiter over several years. Males and females look alike.

They're mostly silent at sea.

Look for them offshore from Virginia Beach, Back Bay NWR's beach, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. The Virginia DWR calls the Bridge-Tunnel the best winter birding site in Virginia, though the northernmost island now needs advance permission and a fee.

32. Bald Eagle

Family – Accipitridae
Species – Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Virginia Bird & Winter Migrant

The Bald Eagle is easy to find in Virginia, especially around the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers. It eats fish, waterfowl, and carrion, and isn't above stealing a fish from an Osprey.

Adults have a white head and tail and a massive yellow bill. Young eagles are mottled brown and white and take about five years to get adult colors. Females are larger than males.

The call is a weak, high-pitched chatter, nothing like the scream you hear in movies (that's usually a Red-tailed Hawk).

Look for them at Mason Neck NWR, along the James, Rappahannock, and Potomac rivers, and up in Highland County in winter.

33. Red-tailed Hawk

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

The Red-tailed Hawk is the hawk you see on highway light poles and fence posts, scanning the grass for voles and mice.

Adults have a brick-red tail and a pale chest with a belt of dark streaks across the belly. Males and females look alike, but females are bigger.

The call is a hoarse, screaming keee-ar, the sound Hollywood uses for every bird of prey.

Red-tails are statewide along farm fields, highway medians, and open country, and winter numbers rise as northern hawks move in.

34. Snowy Owl

Family – Strigidae
Species – Bubo scandiacus
Primary Activity Time – Day and Dusk
Diurnal (often hunts in daylight in winter)
Irruptive Species (rare in Virginia)

The Snowy Owl is the rare one. It doesn't come to Virginia every winter, but in some years a few show up on Eastern Shore beaches, including Chincoteague, as well as dunes and airports. It hunts small mammals and waterbirds from low perches in wide-open places.

Adult males can be nearly pure white. Females and young birds have heavy dark barring. Females are larger.

Snowy Owls are mostly silent in winter.

If you think you've spotted a Snowy on the beach, double-check it's not a plastic bag. And if it is a Snowy, keep your distance. The ABA Code of Birding Ethics says to avoid stressing birds, and an owl that has to keep flushing from crowds is burning energy it needs to survive.

Virginia Winter Birds FAQ

What birds stay in Virginia in the winter?

Year-round residents include the Northern Cardinal, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Blue Jay, woodpeckers, and nuthatches. Winter migrants join them, like Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and lots of waterfowl. For the neighbors' version, see our guides to winter birds in North Carolina and winter birds in Pennsylvania.

What is the most common winter bird in Virginia?

At feeders, it's the Northern Cardinal. In FeederWatch's Southeast rankings, it was at nearly 98 percent of sites, followed by Mourning Dove, American Goldfinch, Tufted Titmouse, and Carolina Wren.

Do cardinals stay in Virginia in the winter?

Yes. Cardinals don't migrate, and they stay in Virginia all year. In winter, they often form small flocks and depend on thick shrubs for cover and seeds for food.

Where is the best place to see winter birds in Virginia?

The coast. Back Bay NWR, Chincoteague NWR, Kiptopeke State Park, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel are the big ones for waterfowl and seabirds. Inland, try Mason Neck NWR for eagles, plus Lake Anna State Park and John H. Kerr Reservoir, which the DWR lists among its winter sites.

What birds migrate to Virginia for the winter?

Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and Yellow-rumped Warblers arrive in fall. On the water, Tundra Swans, Snow Geese, Buffleheads, Northern Gannets, and many other ducks come down from Canada and the Arctic. In some years, irruptive birds like Pine Siskins, Red-breasted Nuthatches, and even Snowy Owls show up too.

What birds have you seen in Virginia lately?

Spotted a Tundra Swan at Back Bay or a junco under your feeder? Share it with other birders on the Sparkbird App, where your sightings help the next person know where to look.

And if the Snowy Owl you drove two hours to Chincoteague for turns out to be a plastic bag, pick it up on your way out. You came for an owl and left a hero, which is more than most beach days can promise.