Louisiana's state bird is the Brown Pelican — a coastal fish-diver that has never once been interested in a sunflower feeder. It is on the state flag and the state seal, and it is at the beach, not in the backyard.
At Louisiana feeders the list is led by the Northern Cardinal, at 94.9% of sites.
The twelve birds Louisiana 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 only 38 participants in Louisiana — a small sample, so read the ranking as a rough picture rather than a precise order. The percentage is the share of Louisiana feeder sites that reported the bird at least once.
| # | Bird | Share of LA feeders |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Cardinal | 94.9% |
| 2 | Carolina Chickadee | 84.6% |
| 3 | Blue Jay | 84.6% |
| 4 | Mourning Dove | 76.9% |
| 5 | American Goldfinch | 74.4% |
| 6 | Carolina Wren | 74.4% |
| 7 | House Finch | 71.8% |
| 8 | Northern Mockingbird | 71.8% |
| 9 | House Sparrow | 66.7% |
| 10 | Downy Woodpecker | 66.7% |
| 11 | Yellow-rumped Warbler | 64.1% |
| 12 | Brown-headed Cowbird | 59.0% |
Four things in that list worth knowing
Winter is warbler season here
Yellow-rumped Warbler is eleventh, and Pine Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler and Ruby-crowned Kinglet all make the top 25. Across most of the country these small insect-eaters pass through in spring and autumn. Louisiana is where many of them spend the winter — and some will come to suet.
No junco at all
The Dark-eyed Junco is a top-five feeder bird in most states. It does not make Louisiana's top 25. Most juncos winter further north, so Louisiana trades them for warblers.
The goldfinches come in flocks
American Goldfinch is at 74% of feeders and averages about nine birds per visit — the biggest groups in the top ten. They are winter visitors here, in dull olive-buff rather than summer yellow.
Two doves
Mourning Dove is fourth; the White-winged Dove, with a bold white stripe along the folded wing, also makes the top 25. White-winged Doves have been spreading east from Texas, and Louisiana is now part of their range.
What is on our Louisiana mug, and where each bird actually ranks
The Backyard Birds of Louisiana mug shows the Northern Cardinal (#1, 95%), the Carolina Chickadee (#2, 85%), the Blue Jay (#3, 85%) and the Carolina Wren (#6, 74%). All four are in the Louisiana top six.
The ones we would add next are the Mourning Dove (#4) and the Northern Mockingbird (#8). They are on the list of designs we still owe this state.
If you want more of them
Black-oil sunflower seed covers the cardinal, chickadee, jay and House Finch at once. Suet brings the Carolina Wren, Downy Woodpecker and the wintering warblers. Nyjer in a mesh sock holds the goldfinches. Millet scattered low brings in the doves and Chipping Sparrows. For the mockingbird, a berry shrub does more than any feeder.
Where these numbers come from: Project FeederWatch, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Top 25 Feeder Birds for Louisiana, 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; group sizes are the average when the bird was seen.
See the mugs for the other states → · Identify a bird in three questions →