Oklahoma chose the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher as its state bird — pale grey and salmon-pink, with a forked tail far longer than its body. It is one of the most beautiful birds in the country. It also eats insects, catches them in the air, and leaves for Central America every autumn, so it never appears in a winter feeder count.
The bird that tops Oklahoma's list is the Northern Cardinal, at 91.3% of feeders.
The twelve birds Oklahoma 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 44 participants in Oklahoma — a small sample, so treat close numbers as ties rather than rankings. The percentage is the share of Oklahoma feeder sites that reported the bird at least once.
| # | Bird | Share of OK feeders |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Cardinal | 91.3% |
| 2 | Dark-eyed Junco | 84.8% |
| 3 | Carolina Chickadee | 82.6% |
| 4 | Blue Jay | 76.1% |
| 5 | Mourning Dove | 73.9% |
| 6 | House Finch | 73.9% |
| 7 | Tufted Titmouse | 69.6% |
| 8 | House Sparrow | 65.2% |
| 9 | American Goldfinch | 65.2% |
| 10 | Carolina Wren | 65.2% |
| 11 | Downy Woodpecker | 63.0% |
| 12 | American Robin | 60.9% |
Four things in that list worth knowing
Three kinds of dove
Mourning Dove is fifth; Eurasian Collared-Dove and White-winged Dove both make the top 25. The collared-dove is paler and square-tailed with a thin black collar — an introduced species that spread across the continent in a few decades. The White-winged Dove has a bold white stripe along the folded wing and has been moving north from Texas.
A three-way tie at 65%
House Sparrow, American Goldfinch and Carolina Wren all land on exactly 65.22% of feeders. A sparrow that arrives in groups of eight, a finch that arrives in groups of seven or eight, and a wren that almost always comes alone.
Blackbirds and waxwings come in crowds
Red-winged Blackbirds are at about a third of sites, but average fourteen birds per visit. Cedar Waxwings, sleek and crested, arrive in flocks of eleven or twelve — though they come for berries, not seed.
Your chickadee is a Carolina
Carolina Chickadee is third, at 83%. Oklahoma is Carolina Chickadee country; the Black-capped does not make the state's top 25.
What is on our Oklahoma mug, and where each bird actually ranks
The Backyard Birds of Oklahoma mug shows the Northern Cardinal (#1, 91%), the Carolina Chickadee (#3, 83%), the Blue Jay (#4, 76%) and the Mourning Dove (#5, 74%). All four are in the Oklahoma top five.
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, chickadee, jay, House Finch and titmouse at once. Suet brings the woodpeckers and the Carolina Wren. Millet scattered on a low tray brings the doves and juncos. For the waxwings and robins, a berry-bearing tree or shrub. And in summer, the state bird: open grassland with fences and wires to perch on.
Where these numbers come from: Project FeederWatch, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Top 25 Feeder Birds for Oklahoma, 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 →