Rare Birds in South Dakota
Our list for South Dakota has 30 rare birds recorded regularly there: 9 residents, 9 summer visitors, 8 passage migrants and 4 scarce visitors
Most likely in October
GBIF · Oct
Share of all bird records in South Dakota in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 30, most common first
Red KnotCalidris canutusScarceRare23–26 cm
Black-throated Blue WarblerSetophaga caerulescensPassage migrantRare11–13 cmRegularly May–Sep
White-winged DoveZenaida asiaticaResidentRare27–30 cmRegularly May–Jun
American Black DuckAnas rubripesPassage migrantRare54–59 cmRegularly Aug–Sep
Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citreaPassage migrantRare13–14 cmRegularly May
WhimbrelNumenius phaeopusResidentRare40–46 cmRegularly May
Mute SwanCygnus olorScarceRare140–160 cm
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Pacific Wren 8–12 cm
- Black-throated Green Warbler 11–12 cm
- Black-throated Blue Warbler 11–13 cm
- Cape May Warbler 12–14 cm
- Prothonotary Warbler 13–14 cm
- Bay-breasted Warbler 14–14 cm
- Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 13–15 cm
- Black-backed Woodpecker 21–24 cm
- American Three-toed Woodpecker 21–24 cm
- Ruddy Turnstone 21–24 cm
- Varied Thrush 20–26 cm
- Northern Mockingbird 21–26 cm
- Red Knot 23–26 cm
- Short-billed Dowitcher 23–32 cm
- Little Gull 25–30 cm
- Grey Plover 27–30 cm
- White-winged Dove 27–30 cm
- Grey Partridge 28–32 cm
- Black-billed Cuckoo 28–32 cm
- Common Tern 31–35 cm
- Cinnamon Teal 36–43 cm
- Whimbrel 40–46 cm
- Ruffed Grouse 41–50 cm
- Barred Owl 43–50 cm
- American Black Duck 54–59 cm
- Glossy Ibis 48–66 cm
- Common Raven 54–67 cm
- Great Black-backed Gull 64–79 cm
- Greylag Goose 75–90 cm
- Mute Swan 140–160 cm
Body length, bill to tail. Rare birds in grey.
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