Birds of Tennessee


The birds of Tennessee are quite varied due to our diverse topology.  Marshes, lakes, rivers, creeks, woodlands, forests, fields, mountains, we have a bit of everything for the bird population to enjoy.

Below are some of my favorite bird photographs from around the state.  I’m not a biologist, just a layman, so the organization of species is based on a document published by the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge that lists the species of birds that can be found on their refuge.  Also keep in mind that the photographs were taken over a number of years using a number of different cameras, from a horrible point-and-shoot that I carried on motorcycle trips to a DSLR with a 500mm lens, so some photographs will be noticeably better than others.

The majority of the photographs on this page were taken in the wild.  Captive birds shown are noted.

The photographs on this page were taken at numerous places across Tennessee, including:

Centennial Park – Nashville, TN Couchville Lake – Nashville, TN Deerwood Arboretum – Brentwood, TN
Edwin Warner Park – Nashville, TN Hiwassee WMA – Dayton, TN Old Hickory WMA – Nashville, TN
Radnor Lake State Natural Area – Nashville, TN Reelfoot Lake State Park – Tiptonville, TN Shelby Park – Nashville, TN

Quick-Links To Birds On This Page
Bank Swallow Barn Swallow Blackbird, Red-Winged
Blue Jays Bluebirds, Eastern Buffleheads
Buntings, Indigo Cardinals, Northern Catbirds, Gray
Chickadees, Black-Capped Coots, American Cormorants, Double-Crested
Cranes, Sandhill Domestic (Pekin) Ducks Domestic (Muscovy) Ducks
Domestic (Crested) Ducks Doves, Mourning Ducks, American Coots
Ducks, American Widgeons Ducks, Black Ducks Ducks, Blue-Winged Teal
Ducks, Buffleheads Ducks, Cinnamon Teal Ducks, Domestic (Crested)
Ducks, Domestic (Muscovy) Ducks, Domestic (Pekin) Ducks, Double-Crested Cormorants
Ducks, Gadwalls Ducks, Hooded Mergansers Ducks, Horned Grebes
Ducks, Mallards Ducks, Northern Shoveler Ducks, Horned Grebes
Ducks, Pied Billed Grebes Ducks, Ring-Necked Ducks, Ruddy
Ducks, Scaups Ducks, Unidentified Ducks, Wood Ducks
Eagles, Bald Eastern Phoebe Egrets, Great
Finches, House Gadwalls Geese, Canada
Geese, Chinese Goldfinches, American Grackles, Common
Grebes, Horned Grebes, Pied Billed Gulls, Bonaparte’s
Gulls, Herring Gulls, Ring-Billed Hawks, Cooper’s
Hawks, Red-Tailed Hawks, Red-Shouldered Herons, Black-Crowned Night
Herons, Great Blue Herons, Green Hummingbirds, Ruby-Throated
Junco, Dark-Eyed Killdeer Kingfisher, Belted
Kinglet, Golden Crowned Loons, Common Mergansers, Hooded
Mockingbirds, Northern Northern Flickers Northern Shoveler
Nuthatches, White-Breasted Osprey Owls, Barred
Owls, Great Horned Pelicans, American White Pigeons
Red-Winged Blackbird Robins Sandhill Cranes
Sandpiper, Spotted Scaups Sparrows, American Tree
Sparrows, Field Sparrows, House Sparrows, White-Throated
Spotted Sandpiper Starlings, European Swallow, Bank
Swallow, Barn Tanagers, Summer Teal, Cinnamon
Teal, Blue-Winged Terns, Caspian Thrushes, Hermit
Titmice, Tufted Towhees, Eastern Turkeys, Wild
Vultures, Black Warblers, Black-Throated Green Warblers, Pine
Warblers, Prothonotary Warblers, Yellow Warblers, Yellow Rumped
Waxwings, Cedar Widgeons, American Wood Ducks
Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers Woodpeckers, Pileated
Woodpeckers, Red-Bellied Wrens, Carolina  

Other Birds I Have Seen But Did Not Get Good Photographs Of:
     

  WATERFOWL

  CANADA GEESE
       

  CHINESE GEESE
 

  MALLARDS

  BLACK DUCKS
     

  CINNAMON TEAL
I know these are horrible photographs but they are also, sadly, the best that I have of Cinnamon Teals.  I’ve seen them several times but they are always at long distances and these are the best I’ve managed to get so far.

 

  BLUE-WINGED TEAL

  AMERICAN COOTS
 

  RING NECK DUCKS
     

  SCAUPS
 

  AMERICAN WIDGEONS

  GADWALLS
   

  WOOD DUCKS
   

  RUDDY DUCKS
     

  BUFFLEHEADS

  NORTHERN SHOVELER
       

  HOODED MERGANSERS
These are not very good shots but they are all I’ve gotten of Hooded Mergansers.  They were all taken at Couchville Lake on the same day and are significantly cropped from the originals.  These birds tend to stay well out in the lake so I can’t get very close to them.
   

  DOMESTIC (PEKIN) DUCKS
 

  DOMESTIC (MUSCOVY) DUCKS
 

  DOMESTIC (CRESTED) DUCKS
       

  UNIDENTIFIED DUCKS
     

  GALLINACEOUS BIRDS

  WILD TURKEYS
 

  LOONS

  COMMON LOONS
       

  GREBES

  HORNED GREBES

Non-Breeding Plumage
 

  PIED-BILLED GREBES

Winter Plumage
 

Breeding Plumage
 

  CORMORANTS

  DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS
   

  PELICANS

  AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS

  HERONS

  GREAT BLUE HERONS
     

  BLACK CROWNED NIGHT HERONS
     

  GREEN HERONS
 

  GREAT EGRETS
     

  CRANES

  SANDHILL CRANES

  SHOREBIRDS

  KILLDEER
     

  SPOTTED SANDPIPERS
 

  VULTURES

  BLACK VULTURES
This bird has broken the tip of his upper bill off, it doesn’t normally look like that.  Normally the upper bill hooks down over the front of the lower bill.
     

  HAWKS AND ALLIES

  BALD EAGLES
The photographs below are of captive birds taken at Reelfoot Lake State Park.
 

  COOPER’S HAWKS (CHICKEN HAWKS)

  RED-TAILED HAWKS
The photographs below are of captive birds taken at Reelfoot Lake State Park.

  RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS
This bird is a captive bird that was being held by a ranger at Radnor Lake.  The bird was injured and has been rehabilitated yet is unable to be released into the wild again.
 

  OSPREY
     

  GULLS AND TERNS

  RING-BILLED GULLS
These are all photographs of Ring-Billed Gulls however the first two, which are distinctly different from the others, are of a juvenile in the plumage they display during their first winter.
     

  BONAPARTE’S GULLS
   

  HERRING GULLS
The first three photographs below are of two juvenile Herring Gulls taken at Old Hickory Lake WMA in Nashville, TN.  It takes 4 years for them to develop their full adult plumage and from what I have read these two appear to be in their “First Winter” plumage.  The fourth photograph is of an adult Herring Gull that was taken at Cannon Beach, OR in February, 2014 and shows the full adult plumage.
 

  CASPIAN TERNS

  PIGEONS AND DOVES

  PIGEONS
       

  MOURNING DOVES
 

  OWLS

  BARRED OWLS (HOOT OWLS)
 

  GREAT HORNED OWLS
This bird is a captive bird that was being held by a ranger at Radnor Lake.  The bird was injured and has been rehabilitated yet is unable to be released into the wild again.
 

  HUMMINGBIRDS

  RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS
   

  KINGFISHERS

  BELTED KINGFISHERS
       

  WOODPECKERS

  PILEATED WOODPECKERS

  DOWNY WOODPECKERS
 

  RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS
 

  NORTHERN FLICKERS
 

  FLYCATCHERS

  Eastern Phoebe
     

  JAYS AND CROWS

  BLUE JAYS
 

  MARTINS AND SWALLOWS

  BANK SWALLOWS
     

  BARN SWALLOWS
     

  CHICKADEES AND TITMICE

  TUFTED TITMICE

  BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES
   

  NUTHATCHES

  WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES
   

  WRENS

  CAROLINA WRENS

  KINGLETS AND GNATCATHERS

  GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET
 

  THRUSHES

  EASTERN BLUEBIRDS

  HERMIT THRUSHES
   

  ROBINS

  MIMIC THRUSHES

  NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRDS

  GRAY CATBIRDS
     

  STARLINGS

  EUROPEAN STARLINGS

  YOUNG EUROPEAN STARLINGS
 

  WAXWINGS

  CEDAR WAXWINGS
The photographs on this row are of an immature Cedar Waxwing.  Their coloration changes significantly as they age.
   

  WARBLERS

  BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARLBERS
     

  PINE WARLBERS
This is a juvenile Pine Warbler.  Adults have more yellow in them.

  PROTHONOTARY WARLBERS
 

  YELLOW WARBLERS
     

  YELLOW RUMPED WARLBERS
   

  TANAGERS

  SUMMER TANAGERS
     

  SPARROWS
       

  FIELD SPARROWS
   

  HOUSE SPARROWS
     

  WHITE THROATED SPARROWS
   

  AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS
 

  DARK-EYED JUNCO
   

  EASTERN TOWHEES
I know this is a lousy photograph but it’s the only time I’ve seen one of these birds so I included it anyway.

  BUNTINGS

  INDIGO BUNTING
I know this is a lousy photograph but it’s the only time I’ve seen one of these birds so I included it anyway.  The photograph was taken in my backyard so maybe he will stick around and show up again.  I’ll keep an eye out for him!

  GROSBEAKS

  NORTHERN CARDINALS

  BLACKBIRDS AND ALLIES

  COMMON GRACKLES
       

  RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS
     

  FINCHES

  AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES
     

  HOUSE FINCHES

  CAPTIVE BIRDS – NASHVILLE ZOO AT GRASSMERE

East African Crowned Crane
East African Crowned Crane
Hyacinth Macaw
Hyacinth Macaw

Hyacinth Macaw
Hyacinth Macaw
Hyacinth Macaw
Double-Wattled Cassowary
Saddle-Billed Stork

Saddle-Billed Stork
Red Crowned Crane
Red Crowned Crane
Mandarin Duck
Mandarin Duck Drake

Mandarin Duck Drake
Rainbow Lorikeet
Rainbow Lorikeet
Rainbow Lorikeet
Snowy Owls

Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl
Tucan
Flamingo
Flamingo

Flamingo
Flamingo
Caribbean Flamingo
Caribbean Flamingo
   

  CAPTIVE BIRDS – TENNESSEE RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL

Peregrine Falcon (captive)
American Kestrel (captive)
Peregrine Falcon (captive)
Red Tailed Hawk (captive)
Peregrine Falcon (captive)

Golden Eagle (captive)
Cooper’s Hawk (captive)
Cooper’s Hawk (captive)
Harris’ Hawk (captive)
Harris’ Hawk (captive)

Harris’ Hawk (captive)
Barred Owl (captive		      

  CAPTIVE BIRDS – OTHER PLACES