Birds

Wild turkey at Catoctin Mountain Park

(photo by William Smith)

The hardwood forest and stream environment provides excellent habitat for many species of birds. Over 200 species are thought to occur in the park during some part of the year, including the wild turkey, which started to reoccupy its old habitat in the 1960's. The pileated woodpecker is also abundant in the park due to the vast expanse of hardwood forest that this bird requires to live.

Catoctin Mountain Park Avian Inventory.

 

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Regional Bird Monitoring

Since 2007, the National Capital Region Network (NCRN) Inventory & Monitoring program has monitored birds at approximately 385 forest plots throughout the region. This program represents one of the many ways national parks use science to manage our national treasures. Click here to read the full resource brief.

Top 10 Most Common Birds at Catoctin Mountain Park

1. Red-eyed Vireo
2. Scarlet Tanager
3. Wood Thrush
4. White-breasted Nuthatch
5. American Robin
6. Eastern Wood-Pewee
7. Downy Woodpecker
8. Blue Jay
9. Eastern Tufted Titmouse
10. Red-bellied Woodpecker
    

What’s impressive about this top ten list is that it includes a species of conservation concern. The Wood Thrush is designated as a “watchlist species” by the Partners in Flight program. The fact that it makes Catoctin’s top ten list means that this vulnerable species is finding valuable habitat at Catoctin.

Common Birds in Catoctin Mountain Park

The following list does not represent all of the birds found in the park: only those reported by the NCRN Inventory & Monitoring. Birdwatchers are likely to see many other species depending on migration patterns.

From 2007 to 2010, the number of different species detected each year at Catoctin ranged from 41 to 59. Catoctin is home to 13 species of conservation concern, marked below with asterisks.

Acadian Flycatcher**	Broad-winged Hawk	Downy Woodpecker	House Wren	Red-tailed Hawk
American Crow	Brown Creeper	Eastern Kingbird	Indigo Bunting**	Ruby-throated Hummingbird
American Goldfinch	Brown-headed Cowbird	Eastern Phoebe	Kentucky Warbler*	Scarlet Tanager
American Redstart	Carolina Wren*	Eastern Towhee**	Louisiana Waterthrush*	Summer Tanager
American Robin	Cedar Waxwing	Eastern Tufted Titmouse	Mourning Dove	Turkey Vulture
Baltimore Oriole	Cerulean Warbler*	Eastern Wood-Pewee	Northern Cardinal	Unidentified Chickadee+
Black-and-white Warbler	Chestnut-sided Warbler	European Starling	Northern Flicker	Veery
Black-billed Cuckoo	Chimney Swift	Gray Catbird	Northern Parula	White-breasted Nuthatch
Blackpoll Warbler	Chipping Sparrow	Gray-cheeked Thrush	Ovenbird	Wood Thrush*
Black-throated Blue Warbler	Common Grackle	Great Crested Flycatcher	Pileated Woodpecker	Worm-eating Warbler*
Blue Jay	Common Raven	Hairy Woodpecker	Pine Warbler*	Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	Common Yellowthroat	Hermit Thrush	Red-bellied Woodpecker**	Yellow-throated Vireo**
Blue-headed Vireo	Cooper’s Hawk	Hooded Warbler**	Red-eyed Vireo

*Partners in Flight Watchlist species are vulnerable at a continental scale

**Stewardship Species have most of their global population within the region.

+Detections of Carolina and Blackcapped Chickadee are combined