Raptors
Some of the common birds of prey that call Alabama home are the osprey, a raptor that lives near lakes, rivers and bays. The Mississippi kite, the sharp-shinned hawk, and the northern harrier are also frequently seen, as are the Cooper's hawk, the red-shouldered hawk, the red-tailed hawk and the broad-winged hawk. Members of the falcon family found in Alabama quite often are the peregrine falcon, the merlin and the American kestrel. The most common owls are the great horned owl, the barred owl and the eastern screech owl.
Perching Birds
Warblers such as the Tennessee, orange-crowned, yellow and magnolia warbler are Alabama birds. Summer and scarlet tanagers, blackbirds, bobolinks, cowbirds, grackles, titmice, chickadees, nuthatches, towhees, chipping sparrows, field sparrows, vesper sparrows, cardinals, buntings and grosbeaks are all perching birds that bird watchers in Alabama will encounter. So is the American crow, the fish crow, swallows such as the purple martin, barn swallow and cliff swallow as well as various thrushes including the American robin. Mockingbirds, catbirds and the brown thrasher are Alabama residents year-round.
Water Birds
Water birds like the Canada goose, the snow goose, the wood duck and the gadwall winter in Alabama. The American wigeon, black duck, mallard duck, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal and the pintail are all found on Alabama lakes and ponds during different times of the year. The canvasback, goldeneye, ruddy duck, hooded merganser and bufflehead are not uncommon waterfowl in the state. The common loon, kingfisher, great blue heron and snowy egret all subsist on fish found in Alabama waters as do a number of types of grebes.
