Kansas chose the Western Meadowlark as its state bird — a yellow-breasted grassland singer that you hear from fence posts along the highway. It feeds on the ground in open fields, and it does not make Kansas's top 25 feeder birds.
The bird that tops the list is at 96.4% of Kansas feeders: the Northern Cardinal.
The twelve birds Kansas feeders report most
From Project FeederWatch, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's winter count, in which volunteers record what turns up at their own feeders. The 2023–24 season had 107 participants in Kansas. The percentage is the share of Kansas feeder sites that reported the bird at least once.
| # | Bird | Share of KS feeders |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Cardinal | 96.4% |
| 2 | Dark-eyed Junco | 92.8% |
| 3 | House Finch | 89.2% |
| 4 | Blue Jay | 89.2% |
| 5 | Downy Woodpecker | 86.5% |
| 6 | House Sparrow | 82.9% |
| 7 | Mourning Dove | 82.9% |
| 8 | American Goldfinch | 79.3% |
| 9 | Red-bellied Woodpecker | 78.4% |
| 10 | Tufted Titmouse | 75.7% |
| 11 | American Robin | 71.2% |
| 12 | Black-capped Chickadee | 71.2% |
Four things in that list worth knowing
A sparrow most of the country never sees
At #20, Harris's Sparrow is reported at almost 39% of Kansas feeders. It nests in the far north of Canada and spends the winter in a fairly narrow band of the central Great Plains — which puts Kansas right in the middle of it. Look for a big sparrow with a black face and bib and a pink bill, usually in small flocks on the ground under the feeder.
Where East meets West
Kansas feeders get eastern birds — Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren — alongside birds of the plains and the West, like the Northern Flicker and White-crowned Sparrow. Which ones you get depends a lot on which end of the state you live in.
Your chickadee is probably a Black-capped
Black-capped Chickadee ties with the robin at 71%. Most of Kansas is Black-capped country; in the far southeast the Carolina Chickadee takes over, and where the two meet they are almost impossible to tell apart.
Two ties in the top seven
House Finch and Blue Jay share third at 89%; House Sparrow and Mourning Dove share sixth at 83%. With 107 feeders in the count, a tie means the birds really are equally common.
What is on our Kansas mug, and where each bird actually ranks
The Backyard Birds of Kansas mug shows the Northern Cardinal (#1, 96%), the House Finch (#3, 89%), the Blue Jay (#4, 89%) and the Mourning Dove (#7, 83%). All four are in the Kansas top seven.
The one we would add next is the Dark-eyed Junco at #2. It is on the list of designs we still owe this state.
If you want more of them
Black-oil sunflower seed covers the cardinal, House Finch, jay, titmouse and chickadee at once. Suet keeps the woodpeckers and flicker coming. Millet scattered on the ground or a low tray brings in the juncos, doves and Harris's Sparrows. Nyjer in a mesh sock holds the goldfinches.
Where these numbers come from: Project FeederWatch, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Top 25 Feeder Birds for Kansas, 2023–24 season. These are volunteer reports from their own feeders, not a formal survey, and they describe the winter feeding season rather than the whole year. Percentages are the share of participating sites that reported the species.
See the mugs for the other states → · Identify a bird in three questions →