Delaware Birds: Pictures And Bird Identification Tips

picture of a Northern Parula, a breeding songbirds in Delaware, and part of the Delaware birds section
Conversations about Delaware birds often start with the Delaware state bird, the Blue Hen. Rightly so given its historical significance to the state.

As hard to the ears as it may sound today, cockfighting was all the rage in Colonial America. During the Revolutionary War an officer in the 1st Delaware Regiment raised a blue breed of these birds. Reasoning by analogy takes over and the spirit of the Regiment was likened to the spirit of a champion Cockfighter.

Birds

Of course there’s much more to Delaware birds than chickens and roosters. For a small state, the Delaware birds checklist has an impressive four hundred and twenty different species. Of this total the Delaware breeding bird atlas lists approximately 180 species.

Some of the breeding birds of Delaware are year round residents. Your basic back yard birds such as blue jays, finches, juncos, titmice and cardinals (to name a few) rank as the most common birds in residential areas throughout the state.

Woodpeckers are one group of birds that combine the year round residential and breeding bird populations. Press the woodpeckers button to learn more about Delaware woodpeckers.

The birds button leads to articles, pictures and video covering many types more of birds.

Less well known is the fact that about ten birds of prey, hawks, eagles and owls get classified as breeding birds that live year round in the state.

Great Horned owls, barred owls, barn owls and Eastern screech owls all carve out a niche for themselves in the state.

Each year the people of the state keep an eye out for the fish loving Bald Eagle, who continue to winter in the state in large numbers. Bombay Hook and Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuges advertise their presence.

Because parts of the state are situated along two hawk migration routes, one along the Piedmont ridge and one along the Atlantic Ocean, Delaware also hosts two separate Hawk watches during the fall.

The remainder of Delaware birds often get classified as the neo-tropical migrants, with familiar names such as hummingbirds and warblers. While many of the warblers and songbirds are passing through during the migratory season on their way to more northern breeding grounds, a few of them, such as the Northern Parula (pictured at the top of the page), the Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler and Pine Warbler make Delaware the end of their migratory journey.

Delaware Birding Hot Spots

As a coastal state, Delaware is also a great place for shorebirds and waterbirds. When it comes to shorebird watching, Cape Henlopen is to Delaware just as Cape May is to New Jersey. They sit on opposite sides of the Delaware Bay, at the midway point of the Atlantic Flyway. It’s a birder’s paradise with close to three hundred birds on the local bird check list.

In spring and fall shorebirds, songbirds and raptors move through the park in impressive numbers. A hawk watch is conducted from the Bunker overlook during April and May and again during September and October. In late October and early November thousands of sea ducks, cormorants, gannets and loons stream past the Cape as they migrate south. Winter offers the chance to see northern visitors like snow bunting, common eider and snowy owl. During the summer months piping plover nest on the beaches at the Point and Gordons Pond, common nighthawks nest in the ocean dunes and Chuck-will’s-widows nest in the Park’s pine forest.

Delaware also hosts over a dozen tern species on their coastal areas, including two Thalasseusa, or crested Terns. Crested head feathers, along with other genetic similarities explains the common name. They are great birds to watch and photograph.

The first picture pretty much explains the rest. It highlights an individual Royal Tern with spiky or crested head feathers. The large size, black legs and orange bill provide for fairly easy species identification in its East Coast and Gulf Coast habitat.

picture of a Sandwich Tern at the beach
The yellow-tipped bill serves as the key identification feature for the Sandwich Tern, the second of the two Delaware Thalasseus species. It’s a a medium sized bird that lives primarily along the coastal areas of the Southeast and Gulf of Mexico.

Delaware residents and tourists need not stop with shorebirds. Delaware is also home to about a dozen State Parks that offer specialty birding adventures. White Clay Creek State Park, for example, is a bit north of Newark and boasts of great year-round birding opportunities. Migrating songbirds are of course the big spring draw. Even more, the entire area, including the adjacent White Clay Creek Preserve in Chester County, PA are known for their being a scenic area with White Clay Creek having a Wild River designation.

Delware Birds: Woodpeckers

picture of a yellow-shafted Northern Flicker, one of seven Delaware woodpeckers

Delaware birds also includes multiple woodpecker species.

Woodpecker popularity partially comes about because they enjoy living in and around residential areas. That makes them great photography subjects.

Flickers (genus Colaptes) rank as one of the most common woodpeckers in the United States. They have a presence in every single state, and they adapt to residential areas with little trouble.

Delaware hosts the East Coast subspecies, the Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker. The color designation refers to the under the wing color of their tail and wing feathers.

Flickers are the ground feeders of the woodpecker family. They prefer open habitats such as fields and residential areas because they supply them with their primary food sources such as insects, seeds and berries. The male is distinguished from the female by the red patch on the cheek.

Popular birds, they are welcome at many back yard feeders and especially enjoy a snack of suet and water. With a life that often exceeds the five year mark, homeowners might expect a long term relationship with any flickers they might attract to the back yard feeder.

picture of a Pileated Woodpecker
The red crested head and white stripes across the face makes it difficult to mistake the Pileated Woodpecker for any other species.

They are described as both shy and adapted to human environments. Their attitude toward humans probably depends on the particulars of their territory. In instances where they breed and live in non-residential areas, they can be shy. There are also ample examples of their being enticed to backyard bird feeders.

picture of a red-bellied woodpecker
Red-bellied woodpeckers are the second of the two wide-spread Melanerpes woodpeckers. They are larger than average birds with an outgoing personality. They easily adapt to backyard feeders and their loud vocalizations can often be heard through the neighborhood.

Physically, the name red-bellied can be a bit misleading because the stomach feathers have barely a hint of red to them. The back and top of the male’s head is red. The female’s head is buffy and the nape is red.

They belong to the same genus as the Acorn Woodpecker, and like them, they are known to store food in cracks in trees. Their diet also consists of in season fruit, nuts and insects.

picture of Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed woodpeckers rank as the most wide spread of the Melanerpes species, with a presence in almost every state from the Rocky Mountains and destinations east. It’s one of the most common Delaware woodpeckers with a physical appearance that translates into easy identification. The head, covered in red feathers, along with a white stomach stands out in a crowded woodpecker field. Both males and females share this feature. Juveniles have brown feathers on the head for their first year.

They enjoy open areas with grasses and woodlands, especially oak dominated areas because the consume acorns. Their propensity for nuts also means they are easily enticed to backyard feeders with suet or other healthy nuts such as sunflower seeds.

Woodpecker enthusiasts with backyard feeders can attest to their gregarious nature. They don’t mind flocking in large groups when food is plentiful. In those times, they can be a bit vocal. In the northernmost area of their range they are a summer resident for breeding and then migrate south for the winter.

picture of a downy woodpecker
North America’s most diverse woodpecker genera, Picoides, records nine separate species, and two common species are also Delaware woodpeckers, the Hairy and Downy.

Downy woodpeckers are the smallest and most common of the Picoides species. They find homes where ever trees grow..

Both species have a very similar black and white feather pattern. Bill size is usually the best field ID clue.

picture of a Hairy Woodpecker
Compare the picture of the Hairy with the Downy and the longer bill becomes more evident.

They are a very common species across the United States because they are adaptable to forests and residential areas alike. Look for them at the backyard feeder.

picture of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is the most far ranging of all the native sapsucker species. It breeds across Canada from Coast to Coast and in the winter returns to most forested areas west of the Rocky Mountains.