Reference

How many bird species are in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin has 457 bird species on its official list (Wisconsin Society for Ornithology Records Committee, March 23, 2025), the 25th highest count of the 46 states with a verified count. Nine hypothetical species are listed separately and not counted, and a few recent additions are marked as awaiting the records committee's review.

Updated

Wisconsin bird list at a glance

From Wisconsin’s official list, read on October 2, 2026.
Official count457 species
List’s dateMarch 23, 2025
Kept byWisconsin Society for Ornithology Records Committee
Among US states25th highest of the 47 US lists (50 states and DC) with a verified count
Official listChecklist of Wisconsin Birds

What does Wisconsin’s count include?

  • Valid species, as of the checklist update of March 23, 2025.
  • Not counted: 9 hypothetical species, listed after the main checklist.
  • A few recent additions are marked as still awaiting the records committee's review.

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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin; 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.

Wisconsin’s state bird

An American Robin, slate gray above with an orange-red breast, perched on a branch
John and Elizabeth Gould, The Birds of Europe (1832–37)

American Robin

Wisconsin’s state bird is the American Robin (officially, the “robin (Turdus migratorius)”). Wisconsin Statutes § 1.10(3)(f). The law names the robin, Turdus migratorius: the American Robin.

Audubon painted it too: plate 131 of The Birds of America.

Source: Wisconsin Statutes § 1.10, State symbols (Wisconsin Legislature), archived copy (the copy saved on August 14, 2026), read October 3, 2026. See the state birds of all 50 states, each with its painting.

Birding festivals in Wisconsin

Our birding festivals calendar lists 7 in Wisconsin, with dates from each festival’s own website:

In winter you can also join a Christmas Bird Count near you; our guide explains how.

More about bird counts

Sources

The count, its date and the details above come from the official list, Checklist of Wisconsin Birds, read on October 2, 2026. We never use eBird’s data or a website’s estimate for a state’s count.