Reference
How many bird species are in Arkansas?
Arkansas has 428 bird species on its official list (Arkansas Bird Records Committee, no date on the list), tied for the 40th highest count of the 46 states with a verified count. The online checklist includes extinct species and marks the kind of evidence behind each species on it.
Updated
Arkansas bird list at a glance
| Official count | 428 species |
|---|---|
| List’s date | Not given on the list (we read it on October 2, 2026) |
| Kept by | Arkansas Bird Records Committee (Arkansas Bird Alliance) |
| Among US states | Tied for 40th highest of the 47 US lists (50 states and DC) with a verified count |
| Official list | Birds of Arkansas (online state checklist) |
What does Arkansas’s count include?
- Extinct species.
- Each species is marked with the kind of evidence behind it.
Why do other sources give 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:
- Older totals. A printable checklist and a 2023 field reference on the same society's website give different, older totals. The online checklist gives 428.
Every state’s list follows its own rules: see why the counts differ from state to state.
How do you count your own Arkansas 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 Arkansas; 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.
Arkansas’s state bird
Northern Mockingbird
Arkansas’s state bird is the Northern Mockingbird (officially, the “mockingbird”).
Audubon painted it too: plate 21 of The Birds of America.
Source: Arkansas State Capitol Activity Book (Arkansas Secretary of State, 2025), read October 3, 2026. See the state birds of all 50 states, each with its painting.
Birding festivals in Arkansas
Our birding festivals calendar lists one festival in Arkansas, with dates from its own website:
- Birding Festival of the South, Hot Springs: dates not announced yet (2026 festival: October 8–10, 2026)
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: Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.
- 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.