Mississippi chose the Northern Mockingbird as its state bird. It is common in Mississippi yards, but it eats insects and fruit rather than seed, so at the feeder it sits in thirteenth place, at about six in ten sites.
The list is led by the Northern Cardinal, at 95.7% of Mississippi feeders.
The twelve birds Mississippi 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. An honest note first: the 2023–24 season had only 23 participants in Mississippi. With a sample that small, each feeder moves a percentage by about four points, so read this as a picture of what is common rather than a precise ranking. The percentage is the share of Mississippi feeder sites that reported the bird at least once.
| # | Bird | Share of MS feeders |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Cardinal | 95.7% |
| 2 | Carolina Chickadee | 91.3% |
| 3 | Carolina Wren | 87.0% |
| 4 | House Finch | 82.6% |
| 5 | American Goldfinch | 78.3% |
| 6 | Mourning Dove | 78.3% |
| 7 | Blue Jay | 69.6% |
| 8 | Tufted Titmouse | 69.6% |
| 9 | Red-bellied Woodpecker | 69.6% |
| 10 | Brown-headed Cowbird | 60.9% |
| 11 | White-throated Sparrow | 60.9% |
| 12 | Downy Woodpecker | 60.9% |
Four things in that list worth knowing
Three southern birds at the top
Northern Cardinal, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren — the classic trio of a Deep South backyard, and all three stay year-round. The wren is the loud one: a bird under an ounce with a ringing tea-kettle tea-kettle that carries across two gardens.
A five-way tie
Brown-headed Cowbird, White-throated Sparrow, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Mockingbird and Brown Thrasher all land on exactly 60.87% — fourteen of the 23 feeders each. That is what a small sample looks like: many birds, few distinct numbers.
Warblers and a thrasher
Yellow-rumped and Pine Warblers both make the top 25, as they do across the Gulf states, where many of them spend the winter. The Brown Thrasher — rufous above, streaked below, with a yellow eye — works the leaf litter under shrubs rather than the feeder itself.
Blackbirds arrive in crowds
Red-winged Blackbirds are at about half the sites, but they average more than thirteen birds per visit — the biggest groups on Mississippi's list. Weight-triggered feeders and safflower seed are the usual ways to keep a feeder for the smaller birds.
What is on our Mississippi mug, and where each bird actually ranks
The Backyard Birds of Mississippi mug shows the Northern Cardinal (#1, 96%), the Carolina Chickadee (#2, 91%), the Carolina Wren (#3, 87%) and the House Finch (#4, 83%) — exactly the state's top four, in order.
The ones we would add next are the Mourning Dove and the American Goldfinch, tied at #5. 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, House Finch, jay and titmouse at once. Suet brings the woodpeckers, the Carolina Wren and the wintering warblers. Millet on a low tray brings the doves, White-throated and Chipping 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 Mississippi, 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 →