Common Birds in Massachusetts
Our list for Massachusetts has 78 common birds recorded regularly there: 28 residents, 27 summer visitors, 18 winter visitors and 5 passage migrants
Most likely in October
GBIF · Oct
Share of all bird records in Massachusetts in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 78, most common first
Common YellowthroatGeothlypis trichasSummer visitorCommon11–13 cmRegularly May–Oct
Northern Yellow WarblerSetophaga aestivaSummer visitorCommon12–13 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
Chipping SparrowSpizella passerinaSummer visitorCommon12–15 cmRegularly Apr–Nov
Great Blue HeronArdea herodiasResidentCommon91–137 cmRecorded all year
Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensisResidentCommon45–65 cmRecorded all year
Barn SwallowHirundo rusticaSummer visitorCommon17–19 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
Great Black-backed GullLarus marinusResidentCommon64–79 cmRecorded all year
American Black DuckAnas rubripesWinter visitorCommon54–59 cmRecorded all year
Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorumSummer visitorCommon15–18 cmRecorded all year
Red-breasted MerganserMergus serratorWinter visitorCommon52–58 cmRegularly Oct–May
EiderSomateria mollissimaWinter visitorCommon50–71 cmRecorded all year
OspreyPandion haliaetusSummer visitorCommon54–58 cmRegularly Mar–Oct
Ruby-throated HummingbirdArchilochus colubrisSummer visitorCommon7–9 cmRegularly May–Sep
Hooded MerganserLophodytes cucullatusWinter visitorCommon40–49 cmRegularly Oct–Apr
OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapillaSummer visitorCommon12–15 cmRegularly May–Sep
GoldeneyeBucephala clangulaWinter visitorCommon40–51 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Swamp SparrowMelospiza georgianaSummer visitorCommon12–15 cmRecorded all year
Great White EgretArdea albaSummer visitorCommon80–104 cmRegularly Mar–Nov
Mute SwanCygnus olorResidentCommon140–160 cmRecorded all year
Eastern BluebirdSialia sialisResidentCommon16–21 cmRecorded all year
Semipalmated PloverCharadrius semipalmatusPassage migrantCommon17–19 cmRegularly May–Oct
Common LoonGavia immerWinter visitorCommon66–91 cmRecorded all year
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorCommon31–35 cmRegularly May–Oct
Data: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made