Birdfreak’s 27 Favorite Birds

Today is my 27th birthday so I spent some time thinking about my 27 favorite birds. At first I figured it would be a breeze since there are so many awesome birds. Of course, that was what made it more difficult. I decided to only include birds that I’ve seen, thus limiting the pool to in the 360s.

In no particular order, here are my 27 favorite birds:

Common Loon

1. Common Loon – love their haunting sound when in the northwoods
2. White-breasted Nuthatch – always fun to watch
3. Ovenbird – my favorite warbler
4. Northern Cardinal – our state bird and one I see every day

Ovenbird on my backyard fence


5. Greater Roadrunner – awesome bird on so many levels
6. Harris’s Hawk – the coolest hawk there is
7. Fox Sparrow – sweet sound and look
8. Black-throated Blue Warbler – seen only twice and both times in my backyard
9. Whip-poor-will – saw one singing at night, always enjoy their song
10. Wood Thrush – their magical sound is hypnotizing
11. Ruby-throated Hummingbird – three of them buzzing around our flowers just the other day
12. White-eyed Vireo – harder to find in northern Illinois
13. Baltimore Oriole – orange, black, and awesome
14. Belted Kingfisher – check this photo for why this made the list
15. Brown Thrasher – a favorite from bird banding and just fun to see

Greater Roadrunner


16. Pileated Woodpecker – a bird that gives me goosebumps
17. Barred Owl – one I can call out
18. Snowy Owl – no explanation needed
19. Elegant Trogon – my favorite of southeast Arizona
20. Sora – I can imitate their sound nearly exact
21. Mexican Jay – in Arizona, one begged for our breakfast
22. Bald Eagle – our nation’s bird for a very good reason

White-eyed Vireo


23. Osprey – can out-fish me any day of the week
24. Great Blue Heron – elegant, gorgeous, and photogenic
25. House Wren – personal gardening gnome
26. Cactus Wren – tough as cactus spines and handsome to boot
27. Eastern Towhee – drink your tea indeed!

Invariably some birds were on my list and then were cut, making room for an overlooked species. Here are the honorable mentions. If you don’t think this is hard task, try it for yourself!!

• Green Heron
• Great-crested Flycatcher
• Varied Thrush
• Mexican Jay – what are you doing down here?