If you have moved to Washington from anywhere east of the Rockies, the first thing you notice at the feeder is what is missing.
No Northern Cardinal. No Blue Jay. Neither bird occurs here at all — the two most recognisable feeder birds in the eastern United States simply do not exist in a Washington backyard. What you get instead is a cast most of the country has never seen.
The twelve birds Washington 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 558 participants in Washington. The percentage is the share of Washington feeder sites that reported the bird at least once.
| # | Bird | Share of WA feeders |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dark-eyed Junco | 95.6% |
| 2 | Black-capped Chickadee | 89.3% |
| 3 | Spotted Towhee | 81.6% |
| 4 | Northern Flicker | 78.7% |
| 5 | House Finch | 77.5% |
| 6 | Song Sparrow | 77.3% |
| 7 | Anna's Hummingbird | 75.4% |
| 8 | Chestnut-backed Chickadee | 74.3% |
| 9 | Red-breasted Nuthatch | 74.0% |
| 10 | Steller's Jay | 68.5% |
| 11 | American Robin | 63.5% |
| 12 | Pine Siskin | 56.6% |
Four things in that list worth knowing
There is a hummingbird at your feeder in January
Anna's Hummingbird is at 75% of Washington feeders, and unlike every other hummingbird in the country it does not leave for the winter. It sits out Pacific Northwest cold snaps by dropping into torpor overnight — body temperature down, heart rate down — and coming back up in the morning. People who keep a nectar feeder going through December, swapping it when it ices, keep them alive through the worst of it.
Washington has two chickadees, and they are both common
Black-capped at #2 and Chestnut-backed at #8, at three out of four feeders each. The Chestnut-backed is the west-coast one — same black cap and white cheeks, but a rich chestnut back and flanks, and smaller. West of the Cascades you often get both at the same feeder within a minute of each other.
Steller's Jay is what the Blue Jay is not
Tenth, at 69% of feeders. Charcoal-black head and shoulders with a tall shaggy crest, and a deep blue body. Same family as the Blue Jay, same intelligence, same habit of imitating a hawk to clear a feeder — and it is the only jay most of western Washington ever sees.
The junco is first, and it will not touch your hanging feeder
95.6% of Washington feeders. In Washington you get the Oregon form: a dark hood, warm brown back, pale sides. It feeds on the ground, so if your only feeder is a tube you may never get a proper look at the most widely reported bird in your state. Scatter a little seed on a low tray.
What is on our Washington mug, and where each bird actually ranks
The Backyard Birds of Washington mug is drawn with the Chickadee (#2, 89%), the American Robin (#11, 64%), the House Finch (#5, 78%) and the American Goldfinch.
The goldfinch is there because it is Washington's state bird — adopted in 1951 under the name Willow Goldfinch, which is the local race of the American Goldfinch. Worth being straight about it: goldfinches are far easier to see in a Washington summer than in the winter count above, because by November the male has moulted out of his lemon-yellow into dull olive and stops looking like the bird on the state seal.
The one we would add next is the Dark-eyed Junco at #1. It is on the list of illustrations we still owe this state.
If you want more of them
Black-oil sunflower for the chickadees, House Finch and nuthatch. Nyjer in a mesh sock for the goldfinches and siskins. Suet for the flicker and the nuthatch. A low tray or bare ground for the juncos, towhees and Song Sparrows, which all feed down there.
And keep the nectar feeder up all winter. In western Washington that is not eccentric — it is what the Anna's are relying on.
Where these numbers come from: Project FeederWatch, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Top 25 Feeder Birds for Washington, 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. Washington state bird designation: 1951.
See the mugs for the other states → · Identify a bird in three questions →