Skip to Content
Abert’s Towhee Acadian Flycatcher Acorn Woodpecker Alder Flycatcher Allen’s Hummingbird Altamira Oriole American Avocet American Bittern American Black Duck American Coot American Crow American Dipper American Golden-Plover American Goldfinch American Kestrel American Oystercatcher American Pipit American Redstart American Robin American Three-toed Woodpecker American Tree Sparrows American White Pelican American Wigeon American Woodcock Anhinga Anna’s Hummingbird Arctic Tern Arizona Woodpecker Ash-Throated Flycatcher Atlantic Puffin Audubon’s Oriole Bachman’s Sparrow Baird’s Sandpiper Baird’s Sparrow Bald Eagle Baltimore Oriole Band-tailed Pigeon Bank Swallow Barn Owl Barn Swallow Barred Owl Barrow’s Goldeneye Bay-breasted Warbler Bell’s Vireo Belted Kingfisher Bendire’s Thrasher Bewick’s Wren Black Guillemot Black Oystercatcher Black Phoebe Black Rail Black Rosy-Finch Black Scoter Black Skimmer Black Swift Black Tern Black Turnstone Black Vulture Black-and-white Warbler Black-backed Woodpecker Black-bellied Plover Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Black-billed Cuckoo Black-billed Magpie Black-capped Chickadee Black-capped Vireo Black-chinned Hummingbird Black-chinned Sparrow Black-crested Titmouse Black-crowned Night-Heron Black-footed Albatross Black-headed Grosbeak Black-legged Kittiwake Black-necked Stilt Black-throated Blue Warbler Black-throated Gray Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Black-throated Sparrow Blackburnian Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Blue Grosbeak Blue Jay Blue-footed Booby Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Blue-headed Vireo Blue-throated Hummingbird Blue-winged Teal Blue-winged Warbler Boat-tailed Grackle Bobolink Bohemian Waxwing Bonaparte’s Gull Boreal Chickadee Boreal Owl Botteri’s Sparrow Brandt’s Cormorant Brant Brewer’s Blackbird Brewer’s Sparrow Bridled Titmouse Broad-billed Hummingbird Broad-tailed Hummingbird Broad-winged Hawk Bronzed Cowbird Brown Booby Brown Creeper Brown Pelican Brown Thrasher Brown-capped Rosy-Finch Brown-headed Cowbird Brown-headed Nuthatch Buff-bellied Hummingbird Buff-breasted Flycatcher Buff-breasted Sandpiper Bufflehead Bullock’s Oriole Burrowing Owl Bushtit Cackling Goose Cactus Wren California Condor California Gull California Quail California Thrasher California Towhee Calliope Hummingbird Canada Goose Canada Jay (Previously Gray Jay) Canada Warbler Canvasback Canyon Towhee Canyon Wren Cape May Warbler Carolina Chickadee Carolina Wren Caspian Tern Cassin’s Auklet Cassin’s Finch Cassin’s Kingbird Cassin’s Sparrow Cassin’s Vireo Cattle Egret Cave Swallow Cedar Waxwing Cerulean Warbler Chestnut-backed Chickadee Chestnut-collared Longspur Chestnut-sided Warbler Chihuahuan Raven Chimney Swift Chipping Sparrow Chuck-will’s-widow Chukar Cinnamon Teal Clapper Rail Clark’s Grebe Clark’s Nutcracker Clay-colored Sparrow Cliff Swallow Colima Warbler Common Eider Common Gallinule Common Goldeneye Common Grackle Common Ground-Dove Common Loon Common Merganser Common Murre Common Nighthawk Common Pauraque Common Poorwill Common Raven Common Redpoll Common Tern Common Yellowthroat Connecticut Warbler Cooper’s Hawk Cordilleran Flycatcher Costa’s Hummingbird Couch’s Kingbird Crescent-chested Warbler Crested Caracara Crissal Thrasher Curve-billed Thrasher Dark-eyed Junco Dickcissel Double-crested Cormorant Dovekie Downy Woodpecker Dunlin Dusky Flycatcher Dusky Grouse Eared Grebe Eastern Bluebird Eastern Kingbird Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Phoebe Eastern Screech-Owl Eastern Towhee Eastern Whip-poor-will Eastern Wood-Pewee Elegant Tern Elf Owl Emperor Goose Eurasian Collared-Dove Eurasian Tree Sparrow Eurasian Wigeon European Starling Evening Grosbeak Ferruginous Hawk Field Sparrow Fish Crow Flammulated Owl Florida Scrub-Jay Forster’s Tern Fox Sparrow Franklin’s Gull Fulvous Whistling-Duck Gadwall Gambel’s Quail Gila Woodpecker Gilded Flicker Glaucous Gull Glaucous-winged Gull Glossy Ibis Golden Eagle Golden-cheeked Warbler Golden-crowned Kinglet Golden-crowned Sparrow Golden-crowned Warbler Golden-fronted Woodpecker Golden-winged Warbler Grace’s Warbler Grasshopper Sparrow Gray Catbird Gray Flycatcher Gray Kingbird Gray Partridge Gray Vireo Gray-cheeked Thrush Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch Great Black-backed Gull Great Blue Heron Great Cormorant Great Crested Flycatcher Great Egret Great Gray Owl Great Horned Owl Great Kiskadee Great-tailed Grackle Greater Pewee Greater Prairie-Chicken Greater Roadrunner Greater Sage-Grouse Greater Scaup Greater White-fronted Goose Greater Yellowlegs Green Heron Green Jay Green-tailed-towhee Green-winged Teal Groove-billed Ani Gull-billed Tern Gunnison Sage-Grouse Gyrfalcon Hairy Woodpecker Hammond’s Flycatcher Harlequin Duck Harris’s Hawk Harris’s Sparrow Heermann’s Gull Henslow’s Sparrow Hepatic Tanager Hermit Thrush Hermit Warbler Herring Gull Hoary Redpoll Hooded Merganser Hooded Oriole Hooded Warbler Horned Grebe Horned Lark Horned Puffin House Finch House Sparrow House Wren Hudsonian Godwit Hutton’s Vireo Inca Dove Indigo Bunting Ivory-billed Woodpecker Juniper Titmouse Kentucky Warbler Killdeer King Eider King Rail Kirtland’s Warbler Ladder-backed Woodpecker Lapland Longspur Lark Bunting Lark Sparrow Laughing Gull Lawrence’s Goldfinch Lazuli Bunting Le Conte’s Sparrow Le Conte’s Thrasher Least Bittern Least Flycatcher Least Grebe Least Sandpiper Least Tern Lesser Black-backed Gull Lesser Goldfinch Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lesser Scaup Lesser Yellowlegs Lewis’s Woodpecker Limpkin Lincoln’s Sparrow Little Blue Heron Loggerhead Shrike Long-billed Curlew Long-billed Dowitcher Long-eared Owl Long-tailed Duck Louisiana Waterthrush Lucifer Hummingbird Lucy’s Warbler MacGillivray’s Warbler Magnificent Frigatebird Magnificent Hummingbird Magnolia Warbler Mallard Mangrove Cuckoo Marbled Godwit Marsh Wren Masked Duck McCown’s Longspur Merlin Mew Gull Mexican Jay Mississippi Kite Montezuma Quail Mottled Duck Mountain Bluebird Mountain Chickadee Mountain Plover Mountain Quail Mourning Dove Mourning Warbler Mute Swan Nashville Warbler Neotropic Cormorant Northern Bobwhite Northern Cardinal Northern Flicker Northern Fulmar Northern Gannet Northern Goshawk Northern Harrier Northern Hawk Owl Northern Mockingbird Northern Parula Northern Pintail Northern Rough-winged Swallow Northern Saw-whet Owl Northern Shoveler Northern Shrike Northern Waterthrush Northwestern Crow Nuttall’s Woodpecker Oak Titmouse Olive-sided Flycatcher Orange-crowned Warbler Orchard Oriole Osprey Ovenbird Pacific Golden-Plover Pacific Loon Pacific-slope Flycatcher Painted Bunting Painted Redstart Palm Warbler Pectoral Sandpiper Pelagic Cormorant Peregrine Falcon Phainopepla Philadelphia Vireo Pied-billed Grebe Pigeon Guillemot Pileated Woodpecker Pine Grosbeak Pine Siskin Pine Warbler Pinyon Jay Piping Plover Plain Chachalaca Plumbeous Vireo Prairie Falcon Prairie Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Purple Finch Purple Gallinule Purple Martin Purple Sandpiper Pygmy Nuthatch Pyrrhuloxia Razorbill Red Crossbill Red Knot Red Phalarope Red-bellied Woodpecker Red-breasted Merganser Red-breasted Nuthatch Red-breasted Sapsucker Red-cockaded Woodpecker Red-eyed Vireo Red-faced Warbler Red-headed Woodpecker Red-naped Sapsucker Red-necked Grebe Red-necked Phalarope Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Red-throated Loon Red-winged Blackbird Reddish Egret Redhead Ring-billed Gull Ring-necked Duck Ring-necked Pheasant Rock Pigeon Rock Ptarmigan Rock Sandpiper Rose-breasted Grosbeak Roseate Spoonbill Roseate Tern Ross’s Goose Rough-legged Hawk Royal Tern Ruby-crowned Kinglet Ruby-throated Hummingbird Ruddy Duck Ruddy Turnstone Ruffed Grouse Rufous Hummingbird Rufous-capped Warbler Rufous-winged Sparrow Rusty Blackbird Sabine’s Gull Sage Sparrow Sage Thrasher Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow Sanderling Sandhill Crane Sandwich Tern Savannah Sparrow Say’s Phoebe Scaled Quail Scarlet Tanager Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Scott’s Oriole Seaside Sparrow Sedge Wren Semipalmated Plover Semipalmated Sandpiper Sharp-shinned Hawk Sharp-tailed Grouse Short-billed Dowitcher Short-eared Owl Slate-throated Redstart Smith’s Longspur Smooth-billed Ani Snail Kite Snow Bunting Snow Goose Snowy Egret Snowy Plover Solitary Sandpiper Song Sparrow Sooty Grouse Sora Spotted Owl Spotted Sandpiper Spotted Towhee Sprague’s Pipit Spruce Grouse Steller’s Jay Stilt Sandpiper Summer Tanager Surf Scoter Surfbird Swainson’s Hawk Swainson’s Thrush Swainson’s Warbler Swallow-tailed Kite Swamp Sparrow Tennessee Warbler Thick-billed Murre Townsend’s Solitaire Townsend’s Warbler Tree Swallow Tricolored Heron Tropical Kingbird Trumpeter Swan Tufted Puffin Tufted Titmouse Tundra Swan Turkey Vulture Upland Sandpiper Varied Bunting Varied Thrush Vaux’s Swift Veery Verdin Vermilion Flycatcher Vesper Sparrow Violet-green Swallow Virginia Rail Virginia’s Warbler Warbling Vireo Western Bluebird Western Grebe Western Gull Western Kingbird Western Sandpiper Western Screech-Owl Western Tanager Western Wood-Pewee Western-Meadowlark Whimbrel White Ibis White-breasted Nuthatch White-crowned Pigeon White-crowned Sparrow White-eyed Vireo White-faced Ibis White-headed Woodpecker White-rumped Sandpiper White-tailed Hawk White-tailed Kite White-tailed Ptarmigan White-throated Sparrow White-throated Swift White-tipped Dove White-winged Crossbill White-winged Dove White-winged Scoter Whooping Crane Wild Turkey Willet Williamson’s Sapsucker Willow Flycatcher Willow Ptarmigan Wilson’s Phalarope Wilson’s Plover Wilson’s Snipe Wilson’s Warbler Winter Wren Wood Duck Wood Stork Wood Thrush Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay Worm-eating Warbler Wrentit Yellow Rail Yellow Warbler Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Yellow-billed Cuckoo Yellow-billed Magpie Yellow-breasted Chat Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Yellow-headed Blackbird Yellow-rumped Warbler Yellow-throated Vireo Yellow-throated Warbler Zone-tailed Hawk

Birdzilla Adventures – Yellowstone

grand canyon of the yellowestone

While the birds were not as visible as we would have liked, the scenery was magnificent.

This is a brief report on a quick trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.   It was basically a 4-day scouting trip to identify good birding locations, places to stay and places to eat.

There are relatively few eBird Hotspots in the Yellowstone National Park, and all are listed under Yellowstone, Wyoming as of August of 2014.

I could not find any eBird hot spots for the Grand Teton National Park.

Yellowstone National Park

Over a 4-day period we drove all of the main roads in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons plus many of the side roads.  In general, we found the birding very slow.  Little singing or calling, even in the early morning.  It rained most of the final two days of the trip which might have hampered the activity.

The Common Raven was by far the most visible bird, and the only species we saw that would “hang around” humans in hope of a snack.  Feeding animals, including birds, is not allowed in either park.

We stayed at the Lodge at Flag Ranch, 2 miles south of the south entrance of Yellowstone National Park.  This location made it a long drive to the northern end of Yellowstone but placed us on the north end of Grand Teton National Park.  The Lodge offers camp sites and cabins of various prices ranges.  Top of the line cabins were about $300 a night.  Lodging and service were excellent.  The staff will help with planning day trips and the food service was excellent.

Birding around the lodge

The area around the lodge offered some birding opportunities.

The Snake River is a short walk from the camp grounds.  Shrubby areas before the river yielded a nice collection of sparrows, including Song, Lincoln’s,  Fox and White-crowned.   A single Clark’s Nutcracker was a fly-by.  Northern Flickers were seen several times.  I thought I heard a Pileated Woodpecker call, rare in the park, but it could have been a flicker.  Yellow and Wilson’s Warblers were in the area and singing. Gray Catbirds were also common.  A single Steller’s Jay was seen at a distance.  Barn and Bank Swallows were seen along the river. Also scared up a family of Mallards and a couple of juncos.

House Finch, House Sparrow (only one), Brewer’s Blackbird and Barn Swallows were seen around the lodge itself.

I road I really wanted to check out is called Grassy Lake Road and starts right at Flag Ranch.  It leads back to a couple of small lakes and more isolated areas.  It was a gravel road, however, and the rains had filled the pot holes to the point I was not comfortable taking the road a great distance.  It might have excellent potential.

In Yellowstone

Two areas in Yellowstone are known for wildlife viewing, Hayden Valley, near the center of the park, and Lamar Valley near the north east of the park.  Thunderstorms and rain limited birding on our one visit to the Lamar Valley.  Hayden Valley always yielded Canada Goose, Mallard, Common Raven and Great Blue Heron, but not much else.

Chickadees were heard calling in several areas but many of the expected species were not seen.

In addition to driving and hiking we took 2 hour boat tips on Yellowstone Lake and Jackson Lake.  Osprey and Bald Eagles were seen on both trips as well as small groups of goldeneyes (too distant to determine the species), a single Bufflehead and several groups of Eared Grebes.  What appeared to be two California Gulls were seen at a distance.

Two Common Mergansers were spotted swimming in the Yellowstone River.

The only Black-billed Magpie we saw was in the town of Jackson, searching for food near one of the restaurants.

 

Birds in the Grand Tetons

Birding results were much the same in the Grand Tetons.  The best birding location was at a spot called Dornans, very near the Park Headquarters, and about 5 minutes from the Jackson Airport.  Food, fuel and gift shops are in the small area.

One end of the parking lot overlooked a small, brushy area which bordered the Snake River.  We birded the area (mid-afternoon) for about an hour, with the following results:

  • Bald Eagle
  • Osprey
  • Clark’s Nutcracker
  • Northern Flicker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Mountain Chickadee
  • Green-tailed Towhee
  • Wilson’s Warbler
  • Yellow Warbler
  • Emp. Species
  • Sandhill Cranes
  • Cooper’s Hawk
  • Hummingbird species  – probably Broad-tailed
  • Tree Swallow and probable Northern Rough-Winged and Violet-green Swallows.

 

Wrap Up

Overall we were very disappointed by both the number and diversity of species.   Maybe it was the time of year or the two days of bad weather.   Many species that we would have known by their song or call did not make their presence known.  It was almost eerily quite in the mornings, when we expected to hear much more.

We did like the location of the Flag Ranch (Gateway Lodge) although it makes a long drive to the north eastern part of the park.  Lodging inside the park, reservations required month’s in advance, would provide easier access to many areas of the park.  Lodging just outside the western entrance of the park might also be preferred.

Rental Car Tip
If renting a car at the Jackson Airport, the rental car companies will offer to pay for the gas when you return the car, a common option.  In most instances it will be better to fill up yourself before returning the car.  Dornan’s, mentioned above, is only about 5 minutes north of the airport.  Fill up there and watch for animals and birds along the way.  We spotted Bald Eagle from the Jackson Airport Terminal building.

bison

Bison were a fairly common site in the park.

chipmunk

Smaller critters were common and had to learn to avoid the larger guys.

common ravens

Common Ravens were the most obvious birds in the park.

lake jackson marina

Marina at Lake Jackson

sam captain

We spent 2 hours cruising both Yellowstone and Jackson Lakes.  The birds were few. White Pelican, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Common Goldeneye, Eared Grebes, Bufflehead and probably California Gull were all we could come up with.

Common Goldeneye

Common Goldeneyes

dorans

This is a view of the habitat from the Dorans parking lot. A pair of Green-tailed Towhees were chasing each other across the field. The Snake River is behind the tree line.

ferry

This is the historic ferry that first offered convenient access across the Snake River.  It is hidden below the trees in the photograph above.

(All photos © Sam or Janebell Crowe)

About the Author

Sam Crowe

Sam is the founder of Birdzilla.com. He has been birding for over 30 years and has a world list of over 2000 species. He has served as treasurer of the Texas Ornithological Society, Sanctuary Chair of Dallas Audubon, Editor of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's "All About Birds" web site and as a contributing editor for Birding Business magazine. Many of his photographs and videos can be found on the site.

Let others know your thoughts or ask an expert

Would you like to get new articles of birds (Once a month?)

No SPAM! We might only send you fresh updates once a month

Thank you for subscribing!

No thanks! I prefer to follow BirdZilla on Facebook