Seasonal Presence and Relative Frequency of Selected Species

New Jersey Birding Highlights

This list summarizes the seasonal presence of selected bird species in New Jersey, indicating whether each species occurs year-round, during the breeding season, or during the non-breeding season (winter and migration). Within each seasonal category, species are numbered and ordered from least to most frequently observed in the United States based on eBird frequency data. This ordering reflects how commonly a species has been observed by U.S. birders over time and is used here as a relative priority indicator, not as a measure of local abundance or the likelihood of encountering a species at a specific site or season within New Jersey.

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New Jersey Birding Highlights

Year-round Residents

  1. Black-capped Petrel

  2. Saltmarsh Sparrow

  3. Seaside Sparrow

  4. American Woodcock

  5. Northern Gannet

  6. Clapper Rail

  7. Northern Bobwhite

  8. American Oystercatcher

  9. Boat-tailed Grackle

  10. American Black Duck

  11. Great Black-backed Gull

Breeding Residents

  1. Cory’s Shearwater

  2. Black Rail

  3. King Rail

  4. Gull-billed Tern

  5. Chuck-will’s-widow

  6. Cerulean Warbler

  7. Golden-winged Warbler

  8. Black-billed Cuckoo

  9. Piping Plover

  10. Kentucky Warbler

  11. Worm-eating Warbler

  12. Alder Flycatcher

  13. Mississippi Kite

  14. Black Skimmer

  15. Blue-winged Warbler

  16. Louisiana Waterthrush

  17. Prothonotary Warbler

  18. Yellow-crowned Night Heron

  19. Least Tern

  20. Bobolink

  21. Dickcissel

  22. Hooded Warbler

  23. Prairie Warbler

  24. Willow Flycatcher

  25. Yellow-throated Warbler

  26. Royal Tern

  27. Veery

  28. Orchard Oriole

  29. Tricolored Heron

  30. Summer Tanager

  31. Scarlet Tanager

  32. Little Blue Heron

  33. Rose-breasted Grosbeak

  34. Baltimore Oriole

  35. Indigo Bunting

Non-breeding Residents

  1. Dovekie

  2. Manx Shearwater

  3. Black-headed Gull

  4. Thick-billed Murre

  5. Great Shearwater

  6. Wilson’s Storm-Petrel

  7. King Eider

  8. Red Phalarope

  9. Nelson’s Sparrow

  10. Razorbill

  11. Sooty Shearwater

  12. Purple Sandpiper

  13. Parasitic Jaeger

  14. Black-legged Kittiwake

  15. Snowy Owl

  16. Great Cormorant

  17. Red Knot

  18. Northern Shrike

  19. Common Murre

  20. Harlequin Duck

  21. Snow Bunting

  22. Sedge Wren

  23. Red-necked Grebe

  24. Rough-legged Hawk

  25. Lesser Black-backed Gull

  26. Redpoll

  27. Black Scoter

  28. White-winged Scoter

  29. Red-throated Loon

  30. Tundra Swan

  31. Common Eider

  32. Long-tailed Duck

  33. Brant

  34. Ruddy Turnstone

  35. Snow Goose

  36. Surf Scoter

  37. Sanderling

  38. American Tree Sparrow

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