Birds of the USA

There are around 900 species of wild bird in the USA, depending on how you count them.    The largest group of birds in the USA, as elsewhere, is the passerines, or songbirds.   Some of them, like cardinals and American goldfinches, are as colorful as anything you'll see in the tropics.    There are many species of raptors in the USA, the most famous being the bald eagle.  Surprisingly, there are even two varieties of vulture - the black headed vulture and the turkey vulture.

There are many different habitats available, from mountains to shore line, and from desert to swamp.   You can visit just one of these habitats when you see the birds of Volo Bog in Illinois.

Another large group consists of waterbirds of various types, whether they're swimming and diving birds, wading birds or shorebirds.   One of the most common and attractive of the wading birds is the Great Blue Heron.   There are also two types of crane, the whooping crane and the sandhill crane, which is an exciting find both as adults and as a juvenile.