Reference
How many bird species are in Oklahoma?
Oklahoma has 488 bird species on its official list (Oklahoma Bird Records Committee, May 2022), tied for the 17th highest count of the 46 states with a verified count. Of these, 421 are backed by a specimen, 52 by photos and 13 by written descriptions alone; 2 are of uncertain origin.
Updated
Oklahoma bird list at a glance
| Official count | 488 species |
|---|---|
| List’s date | May 2022 |
| Kept by | Oklahoma Bird Records Committee (Oklahoma Ornithological Society) |
| Specimens | 421 species |
| Photos | 52 species |
| Written descriptions only | 13 species |
| Uncertain origin | 2 (Mute Swan, Monk Parakeet) |
| Among US states | Tied for 17th highest of the 47 US lists (50 states and DC) with a verified count |
| Official list | Checklist of Oklahoma Birds, Sixth Edition (May 2022) |
What does Oklahoma’s count include?
- 421 species backed by a specimen, 52 by photos and 13 by written descriptions alone.
- 2 species of uncertain origin: the Mute Swan and the Monk Parakeet.
- 2 extinct species and 2 possibly extinct ones, already among the 488.
- The sixth edition of the Checklist of Oklahoma Birds (May 2022).
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 Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma; 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.
Oklahoma’s state bird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Oklahoma’s state bird is the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (officially, the “scissortail flycatcher”), the state bird since 1951. Adopted by the State Legislature.
Audubon painted it too: plate 359 of The Birds of America.
Source: Species Spotlight: Scissortail Flycatcher (Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, in Oklahoma’s state publications collection), read October 3, 2026. See the state birds of all 50 states, each with its painting.
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: Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico 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.