34 Winter Birds in Wyoming

Wyoming has fewer people than any other state, so in winter the birds outnumber the birders by a margin I find deeply motivating. The wind also handles most of the snow removal (it just delivers everything to Nebraska). Winter birds in Wyoming are a tough, specific crowd: magpies, rosy-finches, sage-grouse, eagles, and swans that came here on purpose.

As for the state bird, the Western Meadowlark mostly sits winter out. Wyoming Game and Fish describes its song as an introductory declaration of spring in Wyoming, and while some meadowlarks do winter in the state, they switch to weed seeds and grain and rarely visit feeders. Birders say the ones that stay are usually in southeastern Wyoming.

Types of Winter Birds in Wyoming

There are 3 types of winter birds in Wyoming you'll see on the list:

Resident Wyoming Birds – found year-round. Plenty of them move downhill when snow piles up, so mountain birds like Steller's Jays and Clark's Nutcrackers can end up at a feeder in town
Winter Migrants / Visitors – birds that come to Wyoming for the winter from Canada and the Arctic, like Rough-legged Hawks, American Tree Sparrows, and Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches
Irruptive Species – birds that show up in big, unpredictable numbers some winters and barely at all in others, like Redpolls and Bohemian Waxwings

Each entry covers ID, male vs female, calls, where to find the bird in Wyoming, and its feeder favorites if it visits feeders. The list starts in the backyard, heads up into the mountains, then out to the sagebrush and the open rivers. If you're wondering where everyone else went, here's where birds go in the winter.

1. Black-billed Magpie

Family – Corvidae
Species – Pica hudsonia
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird

The Black-billed Magpie is the unofficial mascot of a Wyoming winter. It eats almost anything, from insects and seeds to carrion along the highway, and it was one of only five species found on every one of the 18 Christmas Bird Counts in Audubon's 122nd CBC summary for Wyoming. It's basically the HOA of the sagebrush: always around, always watching, always has notes.

It's black and white with a very long tail that shines blue-green in good light, and big white wing patches that flash in flight. Males and females look alike.

The Black-billed Magpie call is a harsh, rapid chek-chek-chek or a questioning mag?, and a group of them yelling usually means a hawk, cat, or fox is nearby.

Magpies live statewide at lower elevations, in towns, ranchland, and river bottoms. The Sheridan count tallied 306 in December 2022, its highest number in at least eight years.

Feeder favorites: peanuts, suet, cracked corn

2. House Finch

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

The House Finch is the most dependable feeder bird in most Wyoming towns. It eats seeds almost exclusively and moves around in chatty winter flocks.

Males have a red to orange wash on the head, breast, and rump, and the shade depends on what they ate while growing new feathers. Females are plain gray-brown with blurry streaks and no red at all.

The House Finch song is a long, jumbled warble that often ends on a buzzy note, and the call is a short cheep.

House Finches are a town bird in Wyoming, common in Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie, and Jackson but scarce out in open sagebrush. If you see one with swollen, crusty eyes, it likely has conjunctivitis, so take down and clean your feeders for a few days.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, sunflower chips, nyjer

3. Dark-eyed Junco

Family – Passerellidae
Species – Junco hyemalis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird / Winter Migrant

The Dark-eyed Junco is a ground-feeding sparrow, and Wyoming gets several of its regional forms. A single winter flock can mix gray-hooded birds, brown-backed birds, and pink-sided birds that are all technically the same species, which is a lot of outfits for one bird.

The main Wyoming looks are the Oregon (dark hood, rusty back, pinkish sides), the Pink-sided (paler gray hood, bright pinkish flanks), the Slate-colored (gray all over with a white belly), and the Gray-headed (gray with a rusty patch on the back). In most forms, males are darker and crisper while females are browner. Every junco has a pale pink bill and flashes white outer tail feathers when it flies.

The Dark-eyed Junco call is a sharp tick or smack, and the song is a fast, musical trill.

Juncos winter across Wyoming's lower elevations in yards, shelterbelts, and brushy draws. Interestingly, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation notes juncos only winter in small numbers in snowy Jackson Hole, so expect bigger flocks in the lower, drier basins.

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

4. Black-capped Chickadee

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

The Black-capped Chickadee is a tiny, fearless omnivore that eats seeds, suet, and dormant insects and stashes extra food in bark crevices for later.

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

The Black-capped Chickadee call is the familiar chick-a-dee-dee-dee, and the song is a clear, two-note fee-bee. The more dee notes it adds, the more worried it is about whatever's nearby.

In Wyoming, it's the lowland chickadee of cottonwood river corridors, towns, and willow thickets, from Sheridan to Cheyenne to Jackson.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, suet, peanuts

5. Mountain Chickadee

Family – Paridae
Species – Poecile gambeli
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird

The Mountain Chickadee is the chickadee of Wyoming's pine and spruce forests. It's a dedicated seed hoarder, and in winter it often travels with nuthatches and other small birds in mixed flocks.

It looks like a Black-capped Chickadee with a white eyebrow cutting through its black cap, which gives it a permanently skeptical expression (I get that look from my barista). Males and females look alike.

The Mountain Chickadee call is a hoarser, slower chick-a-dee-dee, and the song is a sweet, whistled fee-bee-bee.

Mountain Chickadees live in the Bighorns, Laramie Range, Absarokas, Tetons, and Wind Rivers, and some drift down to foothill and mountain-town feeders in winter, like the six counted at feeders in Story during the 2022 count.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, suet, peanuts

6. Red-breasted Nuthatch

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

The Red-breasted Nuthatch is a small, busy nuthatch that loves conifer seeds and grabs one sunflower seed at a time from your feeder. In Jackson Hole it's actually more common than its bigger white-breasted cousin.

It has a black eye stripe under a white eyebrow, a blue-gray back, and a rusty-cinnamon breast. Males have a black cap and richer color underneath, while females have a grayer cap and paler underparts.

The Red-breasted Nuthatch call is a nasal, tinny yank-yank, like a very small horn.

In Wyoming, it lives in conifer forests across the mountains year-round, and in some winters more spill into towns and shelterbelts when cone crops fail farther north.

Feeder favorites: suet, shelled peanuts, black oil sunflower

7. White-breasted Nuthatch

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

The White-breasted Nuthatch walks headfirst down tree trunks, wedging seeds into bark and hacking them open, which is where the "hatch" in 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 have a grayer one.

The White-breasted Nuthatch call is a nasal yank or quank, lower and less tinny than the Red-breasted's.

In Wyoming, look for it in cottonwood river bottoms, ponderosa pine forests, and older neighborhoods with big trees.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, peanuts, suet

8. Downy Woodpecker

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

The Downy Woodpecker is Wyoming's smallest woodpecker. It picks insects and larvae out of twigs and weed stems and hangs on suet feeders all winter.

It's black and white with a white back, a short, stubby bill, and black spots on its white outer tail feathers. Males have a small red patch on the back of the head, while females don't.

The Downy Woodpecker call is a soft pik and a high, descending whinny.

In Wyoming, Downies stick to cottonwoods and willows along rivers, plus parks and neighborhoods with mature trees.

Feeder favorites: suet, black oil sunflower, peanuts

9. Hairy Woodpecker

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

The Hairy Woodpecker looks like a Downy Woodpecker that sized up. It digs insects out of bark and is a regular at suet in mountain towns.

The easy tell is the bill, which is about as long as the bird's head (the Downy's is much shorter). Males have a red patch on the back of the head, while females don't.

The Hairy Woodpecker call is a loud, sharp peek and a rattling whinny.

In Wyoming, Hairies are more of a forest bird than Downies, found in conifer and aspen stands in the mountains and in wooded river corridors.

Feeder favorites: suet, peanuts, black oil sunflower

10. Northern Flicker

Family – Picidae
Species – Colaptes auratus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird

The Northern Flicker is a woodpecker that would rather be on the lawn. It eats ants most of the year and switches to berries, seeds, and suet in winter.

Most Wyoming flickers are the "red-shafted" form, with salmon-red under the wings and tail that flashes in flight. Both sexes are brown with black bars on the back, black spots on the belly, and a black crescent on the chest. Males have a red mustache stripe, while females don't.

The Northern Flicker call is a loud, single kyeer, plus a long wick-wick-wick-wick when it's feeling chatty.

Flickers winter statewide in towns, river bottoms, and shelterbelts, wherever there's fruit or a suet cake.

Feeder favorites: suet, peanuts, black oil sunflower

11. American Goldfinch

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Spinus tristis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird / Winter Migrant

The American Goldfinch stays through winter but trades its bright summer yellow for a muted olive-brown coat, which is the bird version of switching from a sundress to a fleece.

In winter, males keep a yellowish face and throat and bold black wings with white bars, while females are duller and grayer. Both have a short, pale, cone-shaped bill.

The American Goldfinch call is a bouncy po-ta-to-chip given in its roller-coaster flight.

In Wyoming, goldfinches are mostly a town bird in winter, at feeders and in weedy lots and river bottoms.

Feeder favorites: nyjer, sunflower chips, black oil sunflower

12. Pine Siskin

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Spinus pinus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird / Irruptive

The Pine Siskin is a small, streaky finch built for conifer seeds. It's a year-round mountain bird in Wyoming, but its numbers swing wildly from winter to winter as flocks follow the cone crop.

It's brown and heavily streaked, with flashes of yellow in the wings and tail. It's smaller and much less yellow than a goldfinch. Males usually show more yellow than females.

The Pine Siskin call is a rising, buzzy zreeee, and a big flock makes a racket you can hear from down the street.

In Wyoming, siskins can show up anywhere from mountain forests to town feeders. Crowded siskin flocks are prone to salmonella, so if you see one sitting fluffed up and lethargic, clean your feeders well.

Feeder favorites: nyjer, sunflower chips

13. Eurasian Collared-Dove

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

The Eurasian Collared-Dove is a non-native dove that spread across North America in a few decades and now lives in practically every Wyoming town. It showed up and settled in like a houseguest who was "only staying through the weekend."

It's pale sandy-gray with a thin black half-collar on the back of the neck and a squared-off tail with white edges. It's bigger and paler than a Mourning Dove, which has a pointed tail and black wing spots. Males and females look alike.

The Eurasian Collared-Dove call is a three-part coo-COO-cook, repeated often from rooftops and power lines.

In Wyoming, look for collared-doves around grain elevators, farmyards, and neighborhoods. Introduced species (collared-doves, House Sparrows, European Starlings, and Rock Pigeons) made up 35% of all birds tallied on Wyoming's 122nd Christmas Bird Count.

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 Wyoming Bird (Non-Native Species)

The House Sparrow is a non-native seed eater that lives wherever people do. It was the third most numerous species on that same statewide count, with 9,116 birds.

Males have a gray crown, chestnut neck, and black bib, while females are plain buff-brown with a pale stripe behind the eye.

The House Sparrow call is a steady, chirpy cheep, delivered at all hours by a whole flock at once.

In Wyoming, House Sparrows stick to towns, ranches, and feedlots, and they're rare away from buildings. Seed mixes with lots of milo and millet tend to attract them, so switch to sunflower if they're crowding out the natives.

Feeder favorites: millet, milo, cracked corn

15. European Starling

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

The European Starling is a non-native, highly social bird that eats insects, grain, fruit, and anything at the suet feeder. It's also an excellent mimic, so the "hawk" you heard may be a starling doing an impression.

In winter, it's glossy black covered in white spots, with a dark bill that turns yellow by spring. Males and females look alike, though males have a bluish base to the bill in spring and females a pinkish one.

The European Starling song is a rambling mix of whistles, clicks, rattles, and borrowed sounds from other birds.

In Wyoming, starlings winter in towns, feedlots, and ranchyards, often in big flocks with blackbirds.

Feeder favorites: suet, cracked corn

16. Steller's Jay

Family – Corvidae
Species – Cyanocitta stelleri
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird

The Steller's Jay is a crested mountain jay that breeds high up and, in winter, often moves down to lower elevations, where it may visit feeders. It caches nuts and seeds and is extremely confident around a bag of peanuts.

It has a black head and tall black crest, and the rest of the body is deep blue. Rocky Mountain birds have short white streaks above the eye. Males and females look alike.

The Steller's Jay call is a harsh shack-shack-shack, and it's a good mimic of hawks, especially the Red-tailed Hawk.

In Wyoming it lives in conifer forests in the western and north-central mountains. In eastern Wyoming, the blue bird at your feeder may be a Blue Jay instead, which has a pale blue back, white underparts, and no black crest. Blue Jays have become regular in Casper in recent years.

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

17. Clark's Nutcracker

Family – Corvidae
Species – Nucifraga columbiana
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird

The Clark's Nutcracker is a high-mountain corvid that pries seeds out of pine cones, buries them in thousands of hiding spots, and finds most of them again months later. I can't remember which streaming service has the show I was watching last week.

It's pale gray with black wings, a black-and-white tail, and a long, sharp black bill. Males and females look alike.

The Clark's Nutcracker call is a harsh, grating kraaa that carries across mountain valleys.

In Wyoming it lives near treeline and in high pine forests, especially around whitebark and limber pine. In winter, some move down to lower slopes and feeders in mountain towns, and the Sheridan count logged one in 2022 for the first time in more than 20 years.

Feeder favorites: suet, peanuts

18. Common Raven

Family – Corvidae
Species – Corvus corax
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird

The Common Raven is a huge, clever corvid that scavenges winter carcasses, raids trash, and follows wolves and hunters to find a meal. In Jackson Hole it's one of the most abundant and conspicuous winter residents.

It's all black with a thick bill, shaggy throat feathers, and a wedge-shaped tail in flight. It's noticeably bigger than an American Crow, which has a rounded, fan-shaped tail. Males and females look alike.

The Common Raven call is a deep, croaking gronk, plus a surprising range of knocks, gurgles, and bell-like notes.

Ravens live statewide now. Casper-area birders say ravens were once found in Wyoming only in Teton County and Yellowstone, which is hard to picture if you've ever watched three of them work over a Casper parking lot.

19. Cassin's Finch

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Haemorhous cassinii
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird

The Cassin's Finch is the mountain finch that most people mistake for a House Finch. It eats seeds and buds and comes to feeders in mountain towns.

Males have a bright raspberry-red crown that often looks peaked, a pink wash on the face and breast, and a whiter belly than a House Finch. Females are brown and white with crisp, fine streaks, which look much cleaner than a female House Finch's blurry ones. Its bill is also longer and straighter.

The Cassin's Finch song is a rich, fast warble, and the flight call is a two-part kee-up.

In Wyoming it breeds in mountain conifer forests, and some move to lower elevations in winter. It's irregular in winter, though. The Sheridan count found two in 2022, the first since 2018.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, sunflower chips

20. Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Leucosticte tephrocotis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch is one of the signature winter birds in Wyoming. It breeds mostly on mountaintops and tundra to the north and west and pours into Wyoming in winter, where the state's bird list ranks it a common winter resident. In Jackson Hole, it's strictly a winter visitor.

It's chocolate-brown with pink on the belly and wings, a black forehead, and a gray band around the back of the head. Some birds, the "Hepburn's" form, have gray covering the whole cheek. Males are brighter and pinker, while females are duller and grayer.

The Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch call is a husky, buzzy chew, and a flock swirling in sounds like a room full of tiny squeaky shoes.

In Wyoming, rosy-finch flocks are nomadic and turn up on open, windswept ground, in ranchyards, and at feeders, from Cody and Powell to Lander and Jackson. Numbers vary a lot by year, and storms tend to push them down to feeders.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, sunflower chips on a platform or the ground

21. Black Rosy-Finch

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Leucosticte atrata
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird (uncommon in winter, mountain towns)

The Black Rosy-Finch is a bird a lot of birders travel to Wyoming for, because it nests in the high peaks of the Tetons and other western ranges and has a small range overall. It spends most of the year above treeline and only occasionally comes down to valleys like Jackson in winter.

Males are blackish-brown with a gray band around the back of the head and pink on the belly and wings. Females are grayer and duller, with less pink.

The Black Rosy-Finch call is a buzzy chew, like the other rosy-finches, so you'll want to check every bird in a mixed flock.

In winter, look for one or two mixed into Gray-crowned flocks at feeders and ranchyards in western Wyoming. They roost communally in caves, rock crevices, and old barns at night, which is my preferred winter strategy, too, just with more blankets.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, sunflower chips

22. Pine Grosbeak

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Pinicola enucleator
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird (uncommon)

The Pine Grosbeak is a big, slow-moving finch that's famously tame. It spends most of the year in subalpine forest and in winter comes down to feeders or to fruit on hawthorns, crabapples, and ornamental cherry trees.

Males are a rich rosy-red on the head, breast, and back with gray sides and bold white wing bars. Females are gray with a mustard-yellow or russet head and rump.

The Pine Grosbeak call is a soft, whistled tee-tew or tee-tee-tew, sweet enough that you'll look up for a much smaller bird.

In Wyoming, check mountain towns and forest edges in the northwest and the Bighorns. They're irregular at lower elevations. The Sheridan count found two in 2022, the first since 2018.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, fruit trees

23. Redpoll

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

You may know it as the Common Redpoll or the Hoary Redpoll, but the American Ornithological Society lumped them into one species, the Redpoll, in 2024. (Lander's count reported a "Hoary" on the 122nd Christmas Bird Count, so that bird has been retroactively rebranded.) Redpolls are irruptive northern finches, and in Jackson Hole they show up about every couple of years, often traveling with Pine Siskins.

It's a small, streaky finch with a red cap (the "poll"), a black chin, and a stubby 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 paler than others.

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

In Wyoming, Redpolls are uncommon and unpredictable, so when they show up, they could be at feeders, in birch and alder thickets, or picking weed seeds in fields.

Feeder favorites: nyjer, sunflower chips

24. Bohemian Waxwing

Family – Bombycillidae
Species – Bombycilla garrulus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Irruptive

The Bohemian Waxwing is a sleek, crested berry eater that comes south out of Canada in some winters in tight flocks that strip a fruit tree and move on.

It's soft gray with a black mask, a pointed crest, a yellow-tipped tail, and rusty feathers under the tail. That rusty undertail is the easy way to tell it from a Cedar Waxwing, which has a white undertail and a yellowish belly. Males and females look very similar.

The Bohemian Waxwing call is a high, buzzy trill that sounds lower and rougher than a Cedar Waxwing's.

In Wyoming, flocks can get huge. Audubon Rockies reported 670 Bohemian Waxwings on the Brinton Museum grounds during the 2022 Story-Big Horn count, plus 300 on the Kane count. Check crabapples, junipers, mountain ash, and hawthorns in towns.

25. Townsend's Solitaire

Family – Turdidae
Species – Myadestes townsendi
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird

The Townsend's Solitaire is a slim gray thrush that spends winter guarding its own patch of juniper berries. Both sexes defend winter territories and chase off other berry eaters, which is how I feel about the last slice of a shared dessert.

It's plain gray with a white eye ring, white outer tail feathers, and buffy wing patches that flash in flight. Males and females look alike.

The Townsend's Solitaire call is a single, clear whistled heeh, repeated like a squeaky gate, and it also sings a long, rambling song in winter.

In Wyoming, look for solitaires in juniper-covered foothills, canyons, and badlands, usually perched right on top of a tree.

Feeder favorites: rarely visits feeders, but a heated bird bath can bring one in

26. American Tree Sparrow

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

The American Tree Sparrow breeds on the tundra of northern Canada and Alaska and spends winter in places like Wyoming, picking weed and grass seeds off the ground. Despite the name, you'll rarely see it high in a tree.

It has a rusty cap, a rusty line behind the eye, a gray face, a two-toned bill (dark above, 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 flocks give a soft, tinkling twitter.

In Wyoming, look in weedy fields, willow edges, and brushy draws. In a mild winter, fewer come down from the north, and the Bates Hole count near Casper found only about half its usual number in the warm winter of 2023 to 2024.

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

27. Horned Lark

Family – Alaudidae
Species – Eremophila alpestris
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird / Winter Migrant

The Horned Lark is a ground bird of wide-open country, and Wyoming has a lot of wide-open country. In winter, it gathers in big flocks along plowed roadsides and bare fields to pick seeds where the wind has scraped the snow away.

It's sandy-brown above with a pale or yellow face, a black mask, a black chest band, and tiny feather "horns." Males have bolder black markings and more obvious horns, while females are duller.

The Horned Lark call is a thin, tinkling tsee-ti, and flocks twitter as they lift off the road ahead of your car.

In Wyoming, they're common on the high plains, sagebrush basins, and ranchland in winter, especially along rural highways. Drive slowly, since they tend to flush at the last second.

28. Greater Sage-Grouse

Family – Phasianidae
Species – Centrocercus urophasianus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird

The Greater Sage-Grouse is Wyoming's most famous sagebrush bird, and the state has more of them than anywhere else. In winter, it lives almost entirely on sagebrush leaves, which is like eating nothing but salad for four months and somehow thriving on it.

Males are large, with a black throat, a white ruff on the chest, and a long, spiky tail. Females are much smaller and mottled brown, gray, and white for camouflage.

The Greater Sage-Grouse call is mostly a soft clucking in winter. The famous popping, bubbling sound comes from the males' spring display on leks.

In Wyoming, they're found in big sagebrush country, especially the southwest near Evanston and the Green River basin. The Bates Hole count near Casper tallied 85 in the winter of 2023 to 2024, and a local birder told Cowboy State Daily that development has squeezed sage-grouse habitat in an area that used to hold many more. That's the real winter story for this bird: protecting big, unbroken sagebrush is the only feeder it needs. Watch from your car and keep your distance, since a flushed grouse burns energy it can't spare in January.

29. Rough-legged Hawk

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

The Rough-legged Hawk breeds in the Arctic and spends winter hunting voles in open country. It often hovers in one spot facing into the wind, which is a giveaway for a hawk this size (and a skill Wyoming's wind gives it plenty of practice at).

Most are light morph, with a pale head, a white tail with a broad dark band near the tip, and dark patches at the bend of the underwing. Its legs are feathered all the way to the toes, like built-in snow boots. Females usually show a solid dark belly band, while males tend to be more mottled across the chest.

The Rough-legged Hawk call is a mewing, descending scream, though it's mostly quiet in winter.

In Wyoming, the state's bird list ranks it a common winter resident. Look on fence posts and power poles along rural roads. Numbers swing with the weather and the vole supply: in the warm winter of 2023 to 2024, the Bates Hole count found only two.

30. Golden Eagle

Family – Accipitridae
Species – Aquila chrysaetos
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird

The Golden Eagle is a massive, powerful raptor that hunts jackrabbits, cottontails, and prairie dogs across open country, and it scavenges carrion in winter.

It's dark brown all over with a golden wash on the back of the head and neck. Young birds have white patches in the wings and a white tail base. Males and females look alike, though females are larger.

The Golden Eagle call is a weak, yelping whistle, rarely heard.

In Wyoming, Golden Eagles live in sagebrush, prairie, and canyon country statewide. The Bates Hole count near Casper tallied 22 in the winter of 2023 to 2024, and long-term Christmas Bird Count numbers in Wyoming look fairly steady.

31. Bald Eagle

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

The Bald Eagle is a big fish-eating raptor that also scavenges carrion and steals meals from other birds. Wyoming's resident eagles get company in winter, and wintering numbers in the state appear to have climbed a lot over the last 20 years.

Adults have a dark brown body, a white head and tail, and a big yellow bill. Young eagles are mottled brown and white and take about five years to get the full look. Males and females look alike, though females are bigger.

The Bald Eagle call is a high, thin series of chirps, much weaker than you'd expect from something this impressive.

In Wyoming, look near open water, like the North Platte, Green, Snake, and Bighorn rivers. The Sheridan count found 43 in 2022, and the species showed up on all 18 counts in the 122nd CBC.

32. Trumpeter Swan

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

The Trumpeter Swan is North America's largest waterfowl, and the Greater Yellowstone area was its last stronghold in the lower 48 when the species was nearly wiped out. In winter, swans from Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, and Canada gather on rivers that stay ice-free. They need a long stretch of open water to take off, like a very elegant cargo plane.

It's all white with a long, straight neck and a solid black bill. Young birds are grayish. Males and females look alike, though males are a bit larger.

The Trumpeter Swan call is a loud, low, horn-like honk, which is exactly where the name comes from.

One of the best places to see them is the Green River on Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge, where releases from Fontenelle Dam keep the water open even in the coldest winters. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls it one of the better overwintering sites for trumpeter swans in Wyoming. They also winter on open stretches of rivers in Yellowstone and around Jackson Hole.

33. American Dipper

Family – Cinclidae
Species – Cinclus mexicanus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird

The American Dipper is a songbird that walks underwater. It hunts insect larvae and tiny fish on the bottoms of fast mountain streams in the dead of winter, which is more than I can say for my willingness to step outside before coffee.

It's a chunky, slate-gray bird with a short tail and a white eyelid that flashes when it blinks. It bobs up and down on rocks between dives. Males and females look alike.

The American Dipper song is a loud, bubbly series of whistles and trills you can hear over rushing water, and it sings all winter.

In Wyoming, look for dippers on open, unfrozen streams in the mountains and foothills, often near bridges and below dams, including in Yellowstone and the Bighorns.

34. Canada Goose

Family – Anatidae
Species – Branta canadensis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Wyoming Bird / Winter Migrant

The Canada Goose is the most numerous bird of a Wyoming winter, by a lot. It was the top species on the 122nd statewide Christmas Bird Count, with 17,568 birds. It grazes on grass and waste grain and spends nights on open water.

It has a black head and neck with a white chinstrap, a brown body, and a pale chest. Males and females look alike, though males are usually larger.

The Canada Goose call is the classic honk, usually delivered by an entire flock at once at 6 a.m.

In Wyoming, big winter flocks gather around Riverton, Casper, and other towns with open water and nearby fields. Look closely at those flocks for Cackling Geese, a smaller look-alike, and Mallards, which also showed up on all 18 counts.

Where to See Birds of Wyoming in Winter

Most birds of Wyoming in winter are easy to find if you know which habitat to check:

Town feeders and shelterbelts for finches, chickadees, nuthatches, juncos, and woodpeckers. The Christmas counts with the most species tend to be lower-elevation towns like Kane, Casper, Lander, Buffalo, and Riverton
Mountain-town feeders in Jackson, Story, Dubois, and Pinedale for Steller's Jays, Mountain Chickadees, Pine Grosbeaks, and, if you're lucky, rosy-finches
Rural highways and ranchland for Horned Larks, Rough-legged Hawks, Golden Eagles, and ravens. Drive slowly and pull fully off the road before stopping
Open rivers for Trumpeter Swans, Bald Eagles, goldeneyes, and dippers, especially the Green River at Seedskadee and ice-free stretches in Yellowstone

If you feed birds in bear country, take feeders down once bears are out of their dens in spring. And since a lot of Wyoming's water is frozen solid by December, here's how to keep a bird bath from freezing in winter.

Wyoming Winter Birds FAQ

What birds stay in Wyoming in the winter?

Year-round residents like Black-billed Magpies, Black-capped and Mountain Chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, Common Ravens, Greater Sage-Grouse, and Golden Eagles stay put, and many mountain birds simply move downhill. They're joined by winter visitors like Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, Rough-legged Hawks, and American Tree Sparrows, plus irruptive Redpolls and Bohemian Waxwings in some years. For the neighbors to the south, see our guide to winter birds in Colorado.

What are the most common Wyoming birds in winter?

By sheer numbers, the top birds of Wyoming's 122nd Christmas Bird Count were Canada Goose, European Starling, House Sparrow, Rock Pigeon, Mallard, and American Crow. At backyard feeders, the regulars are House Finches, juncos, chickadees, nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers, Eurasian Collared-Doves, and magpies.

How many bird species are in Wyoming in winter?

Wyoming's Christmas Bird Counts usually find somewhere between 110 and 133 species statewide, and the 122nd count logged 119. In Teton County alone, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation counts about 80 regular winter species, plus about 40 more that show up occasionally.

Is the Wyoming state bird around in winter?

Mostly no. The Western Meadowlark, Wyoming's state bird since 1927, leaves most of the state for the winter and returns to sing in late April or early May. A few winter in southeastern Wyoming, eating weed seeds and grain, but they rarely visit feeders.

Where can I see rosy-finches in Wyoming?

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches winter across much of the state, so check feeders, ranchyards, and open, windswept ground from Cody and Powell to Lander, especially after a storm. Black Rosy-Finches nest high in the Tetons and other western ranges and only sometimes come down to valley feeders in winter. Idaho gets the same flocks. See our guide to winter birds in Idaho.

What Wyoming Winter Birds Have You Seen?

Whether you're scanning the Green River for swans or counting rosy-finches on a ranchyard fence, share your sightings and find birders near you on the Sparkbird App.

And if a gust blows that Rough-legged Hawk right out of your binoculars, don't take it personally. In Wyoming, the wind always gets the best view.

Happy Birding.