Year Round Species
Many species can be found at almost any time of the year in proper habitat, though some are hard to find during the winter.
These include Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Mallard, Ruffed Grouse, Wild Turkey, Great Blue Heron, Black and Turkey Vultures, Sharp-shinned, Cooper’s, Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks, Killdeer, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Eastern-Screech and Barred Owls, Belted Kingfisher, Redbellied, Downy, Hairy, and Pileated Woodpeckers, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Blue Jay, American Crow, Common Raven, Carolina and Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmouse, Whitebreasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Field and Song Sparrows, Eastern Towhee, Northern Cardinal, House Finch, American Goldfinch (Morgantown’s official city bird), and House Sparrow.
Breeding residents arrive in the spring and leave in the fall, including Green Heron, Broad-winged Hawk, American Woodcock, Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Acadian, Willow, and Least Flycatchers, Eastern Phoebe, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, White-eyed, Yellow-throated, Blue-headed, Warbling, and Redeyed Vireos, Purple Martins, Northern Rough-winged, Tree, Barn, and Cliff Swallows, House Wren, Bluegray Gnatcatcher, Wood Thrush, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Ovenbird, Louisiana Waterthrush, Bluewinged, Black-and-white, Kentucky, Hooded, Cerulean, Northern Parula, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Blackthroated Blue, Yellow-throated, Prairie, and Black-throated Green Warblers, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat, and Yellow-breasted Chat, Grasshopper and Chipping Sparrows, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Bobolink, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, and Orchard and Baltimore Orioles.
Breeding
Residents
Winter Residents
A few birds are primarily winter residents present from fall through spring, though a few may nest during the summer in specific locations and water birds may only be present during milder winters when the rivers and lakes are not frozen. These include Tundra Swan, Gadwall, American Wigeon, American Black Duck, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Greater and Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded, Common, and Red-breasted Mergansers, Ruddy Duck, Common Loon, Pied-billed and Horned Grebes, Double-crested Cormorant, Bald Eagle, American Coot, Ring-billed Gull, Great Horned Owl, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Merlin, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Tree, Whitethroated and White-crowned, and Swamp Sparrows, and Dark-eyed Junco—though a few of these can be found in the nearby mountains in summer.
Spring and fall migrants not normally seen in summer and winter include Blue-winged Teal, Osprey, Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers, Bonaparte’s and Herring Gulls, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Veery, Hermit and Swainson’s Thrushes, Tennessee, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Cape May, Magnolia, Bay-breasted, 2 Blackburnian, Blackpoll, and Palm Warblers, Fox and Lincoln’s Sparrows, Rusty Blackbirds, and Purple Finches.
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​All other species are rarely seen, are vagrants, or occur only in irruptive years.
Spring and Fall Migrants
Locations
​Although there are many good birding locations around Morgantown, check out these in particular. A spotting scope is often necessary at Cheat Lake and along the Monongahela River
