Reference
How many bird species are in Alabama?
Alabama has 455 bird species on its official list (Alabama Ornithological Society Bird Records Committee, September 2025), the 27th highest count of the 46 states with a verified count. The total includes 11 species known only from sight records and 4 that are extinct or no longer found in Alabama.
Updated
Alabama bird list at a glance
| Official count | 455 species |
|---|---|
| List’s date | September 2025 |
| Kept by | Alabama Ornithological Society Bird Records Committee |
| Sight records only | 11 species (the list's Category B) |
| Extinct or gone | 4 species |
| Among US states | 27th highest of the 47 US lists (50 states and DC) with a verified count |
| Official list | Field Checklist of Alabama Birds (September 2025) |
What does Alabama’s count include?
- 11 species accepted on sight records alone, without the physical evidence or second observers the main list asks for (the list calls them Category B).
- 4 species that are extinct or no longer found in Alabama.
Why might you see a different number?
A state’s count is every species ever accepted on its official list, so a figure from another year, or one that counts something else, won’t match.
Every state’s list follows its own rules: see why the counts differ from state to state.
How do you count your own Alabama list?
Your state list is every species you’ve seen in the state. If you log your sightings in eBird, it lets you filter your life list by place, a state included (eBird’s My eBird help page, updated March 28, 2025), and the data download you can ask for gives the state of every sighting: our guide shows how to download your own eBird data. On paper, count the species you’ve seen in Alabama; what is a life list? explains how birders keep their lists.
If you’d like your whole life list in print, Birdfolio turns it into a hardcover book, each species beside a classic painting.
Alabama’s state bird
Northern Flicker
Alabama’s state bird is the Northern Flicker (officially, the “yellowhammer”). Designated by the Alabama Legislature. Alabama calls it the yellowhammer; birders call it the Northern Flicker.
This picture is plate 37 of Audubon’s The Birds of America.
Source: Northern Flicker (Outdoor Alabama, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources), read October 3, 2026. See the state birds of all 50 states, each with its painting.
Birding festivals in Alabama
Our birding festivals calendar lists 3 in Alabama, with dates from each festival’s own website:
- Festival of the Cranes at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, Decatur: January 8–10, 2027
- Alabama Coastal BirdFest, Alabama Coast: April 22–25, 2027
- Black Belt Birding Festival, Black Belt region: July 30 – August 1, 2027
In winter you can also join a Christmas Bird Count near you; our guide explains how.
More about bird counts
- How many bird species are in each state: all 50 states, DC and Canada, each from its official list.
- Bird lists of nearby states: Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee.
- State birds of all 50 states, each with its classic painting.
- How many bird species are in the US and Canada, and how birders count them.
- Bird splits and lumps: when one species becomes two, state lists change too.