Reference
How many bird species are in Illinois?
Illinois has 463 bird species on its official list (Illinois Ornithological Records Committee, August 2026), tied for the 23rd highest count of the 46 states with a verified count. It takes in regular birds and rare visitors alike, plus extinct species and those no longer found in Illinois; one scrub-jay record is not counted.
Updated
Illinois bird list at a glance
| Official count | 463 species |
|---|---|
| List’s date | August 2026 |
| Kept by | Illinois Ornithological Records Committee |
| Among US states | Tied for 23rd highest of the 47 US lists (50 states and DC) with a verified count |
| Official list | Illinois State List of Birds |
What does Illinois’s count include?
- Regular species and rare visitors alike.
- Extinct species, and species no longer found in Illinois.
- Not counted: one scrub-jay accepted as either a California or a Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, without saying which.
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 Illinois 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 Illinois; 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.
Illinois’s state bird
Northern Cardinal
Illinois’s state bird is the Northern Cardinal, the state bird since 1929. Chosen by a vote of Illinois schoolchildren.
Audubon painted it too: plate 159 of The Birds of America.
Source: Illinois’ State Symbols activity book (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), archived copy (the copy saved on March 20, 2026), read October 3, 2026. See the state birds of all 50 states, each with its painting.
Birding festivals in Illinois
Our birding festivals calendar lists 2 in Illinois, with dates from each festival’s own website:
- Rockton Pelican Fest, Rockton: dates not announced yet (2026 festival: May 16, 2026)
- The Urban Birding Festival, Chicago: dates not announced yet (2026 festival: September 18–20, 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: Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri and Wisconsin.
- 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.