Montana chose the Western Meadowlark as its state bird — the yellow-breasted singer of open grassland and fence posts. It feeds on the ground in fields rather than at feeders, and it does not make Montana's top 25.
At Montana feeders the list is led by a bird that handles cold better than almost anything else: the Black-capped Chickadee, at 92.9% of sites.
The twelve birds Montana 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 95 participants in Montana. The percentage is the share of Montana feeder sites that reported the bird at least once.
| # | Bird | Share of MT feeders |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black-capped Chickadee | 92.9% |
| 2 | Northern Flicker | 84.8% |
| 3 | Black-billed Magpie | 78.8% |
| 4 | Dark-eyed Junco | 73.7% |
| 5 | Downy Woodpecker | 73.7% |
| 6 | House Finch | 71.7% |
| 7 | Mountain Chickadee | 68.7% |
| 8 | Red-breasted Nuthatch | 64.6% |
| 9 | Eurasian Collared-Dove | 58.6% |
| 10 | American Robin | 55.6% |
| 11 | House Sparrow | 54.5% |
| 12 | Hairy Woodpecker | 45.5% |
Four things in that list worth knowing
A woodpecker in second place
The Northern Flicker is at 85% of Montana feeders — a big brown woodpecker with a spotted belly, a black bib and, in the West, salmon-red under the wings and tail. It spends much of its time on the ground digging for ants, but in winter it comes readily to suet.
Two chickadees
Black-capped at #1 and Mountain Chickadee at #7. They look alike at a glance; the Mountain Chickadee has a white stripe over the eye, as if someone had drawn an eyebrow on it. In the mountains and foothills you often get both at the same feeder.
The magpie is third
Black-billed Magpie, 79% of feeders. Long-tailed, black and white with an iridescent sheen, and part of the crow family — clever, loud, and very interested in whatever you put out.
Mountain specialists
Clark's Nutcracker and Evening Grosbeak both make Montana's top 25. Evening Grosbeaks travel in flocks — averaging about nine birds per visit here — and can empty a sunflower feeder in an afternoon. No Northern Cardinal appears on the list at all.
What is on our Montana mug, and where each bird actually ranks
The Backyard Birds of Montana mug shows the Black-capped Chickadee (#1, 93%), the House Finch (#6, 72%) and the American Robin (#10, 56%) — three birds, all in Montana's top ten.
The ones we would add next are the Northern Flicker (#2) and the Black-billed Magpie (#3). They are on the list of designs we still owe this state.
If you want more of them
Black-oil sunflower seed covers both chickadees, the nuthatch, House Finch and grosbeaks. Suet is what brings the flicker and the woodpeckers through a Montana winter. Seed scattered on the ground or a low tray brings in the juncos and doves. For the magpies, peanuts — though they will take nearly anything.
Where these numbers come from: Project FeederWatch, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Top 25 Feeder Birds for Montana, 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 →