Kinds of Mississippi Wild Birds

Mississippi's location along the Gulf of Mexico means that it has an assortment of year-round bird species living within its borders, able to remain as they have little problem finding food in the winter. This also translates into the arrival of various birds from northern climates that use Mississippi as a spot in which to winter. Birdwatchers should have no trouble finding a wide array of species to study in the Magnolia State.

  1. Snow Goose

    • The snow goose lives as far north as the Arctic tundra in summer, but many wind up in Mississippi by winter. The snow goose, according to the "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds", is slightly smaller than the average domestic goose at about 25 to 31 inches in length. The snow goose has two color phases. One is all white with black wing tips and the other is a gray shade that makes the bird appear bluish from a distance. Snow geese prefer habitat such as tidal flats, estuaries and shallow tidal inlets. They eat a winter diet of tubers, grasses, berries, stems, grains and aquatic plant roots.

    Red-Tailed Hawk

    • The red-tailed hawk is a common raptor seen in Mississippi, with a distribution that includes almost the entire continent. The red-tailed hawk can soar over the ground looking for prey or it can perch patiently up high and watch for any animal to give away its location with movement. The red-tailed hawk's trademark reddish feathers on the end of its tail are most visible when the bird soars overhead. Also called a chicken hawk by irate farmers for its habit of killing poultry on occasion, the red-tailed hawk feeds primarily on small rodents like rats and mice as well as weasels, chipmunks, squirrels, bugs, snakes and smaller birds.

    Burrowing Owl

    • The burrowing owl is a species that ornithologists describe as a casual visitor to Mississippi. This means that over an average ten-year period, the bird will show up within the state four to eight of those years, even though the area is a bit outside the species' normal geographic range. The burrowing owl is a small owl, no longer than 10 inches, and it lives in the ground in burrows dug by other animals. The bird hunts bugs and small mammals and it is an active predator, looking for food in the daylight and at night. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology notes this species often will bring back the dung of mammals and place it near its burrow, then eat the beetles the dung attracts.

    Northern Mockingbird

    • In 1944, the Mississippi Legislature designated the northern mockingbird as the state bird. Common throughout Mississippi, the mockingbird is about the size of a robin but is gray with white patches on its wings and on its tails, most easily seen when the mockingbird takes flight. The mockingbird gets its name from being able to imitate the sounds and calls of other species, with some mockingbirds even able to mimic mechanical noises such as the sounds engines create. Mockingbirds will battle their own reflections when guarding their territories, thinking they are in a battle to drive off an intruder.