This is a comprehensive listing of bird species recorded in Biscayne National Park, which is in the U.S. state of Florida. This list is based on one published by the National Park Service (NPS) with species confirmed through December 21, 2017. The list contains 214 species, of which 13 are accidental and eight have been introduced (see below). With one exception, introduced species recorded in the Park that do not have established populations according to the Florida Ornithological Society Records Committee (FOSRC) are not included here.
This list is presented in the taxonomic sequence of the Check-list of North and Middle American Birds, 7th edition through the 66th Supplement, published by the American Ornithological Society (AOS).Chesser, R. T., S. M. Billerman, K. J. Burns, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, B. E. Hernández-Baños, R. A. Jiménez, O. Johnson, N. A. Mason, and P. C. Rasmussen. 2025. Check-list of North American Birds (online). American Ornithological Society. https://checklist.americanornithology.org/taxa/ retrieved September 5, 2025 Common and scientific names are also those of the Check-list, except that the common names of families are from the Clements taxonomy because the AOS list does not include them.
The following status codes have been used to annotate some species:
(A) Accidental - a species that occurs rarely or accidentally in Florida, and for which the FOSRC requests a full report for verification (I) Introduced - a species that has been introduced to North America by the actions of humans, either directly or indirectly, and has become established in Florida
Ducks, geese, and waterfowl
Order: AnseriformesFamily: Anatidae
The family Anatidae includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl, such as geese and swans. These birds are adapted to an aquatic existence with webbed feet, flattened bills, and feathers that are excellent at shedding water due to special oils.
Fulvous whistling-duck, Dendrocygna bicolor Snow goose, Anser caerulescens Brant, Branta bernicla (A) Mute swan, Cygnus olor (I) (not on the FOS list) Muscovy duck, Cairina moschata (I) Blue-winged teal, Spatula discors American wigeon, Mareca americana Mottled duck, Anas fulvigula Northern pintail, Anas acuta Canvasback, Aythya valisineria Lesser scaup, Aythya affinis White-winged scoter, Melanitta deglandi Black scoter, Melanitta americana Bufflehead, Bucephala albeola Hooded merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus Red-breasted merganser, Mergus serrator
Flamingoes Order: PhoenicopteriformesFamily: Phoenicopteridae
Flamingoes are gregarious wading birds, usually tall, found in both the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. Flamingos filter-feed on shellfish and algae. Their oddly shaped beaks are adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they consume and, uniquely, are used upside-down.
American flamingo, Phoenicopterus ruber
Grebes
Order: PodicipediformesFamily: Podicipedidae
Grebes are small to medium-large freshwater diving birds. They have lobed toes and are excellent swimmers and divers. However, they have their feet placed far back on the body, making them quite ungainly on land.
Pied-billed grebe, Podilymbus podiceps Horned grebe, Podiceps auritus
Pigeons and doves
Order: ColumbiformesFamily: Columbidae
Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied birds with short necks, and short slender bills with a fleshy cere.
Common ground dove, Columbina passerina Key West quail-dove, Geotrygon chrysia (A) White-winged dove, Zenaida asiatica Mourning dove, Zenaida macroura White-crowned pigeon, Patagioenas leucocephala Eurasian collared-dove, Streptopelia decaocto (I) Rock pigeon, Columba livia (I)
Cuckoos
Order: CuculiformesFamily: Cuculidae
The family Cuculidae includes cuckoos, roadrunners, and anis. These birds are of variable size with slender bodies, long tails, and strong legs.
Smooth-billed ani, Crotophaga ani Yellow-billed cuckoo, Coccyzus americanus Mangrove cuckoo, Coccyzus minor Black-billed cuckoo, Coccyzus erythropthalmus
Nightjars and allies
Order: CaprimulgiformesFamily: Caprimulgidae
Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal birds that usually nest on the ground. They have long wings, short legs, and very short bills. Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Their soft plumage is cryptically colored to resemble bark or leaves.
Common nighthawk, Chordeiles minor Chuck-will's-widow, Antrostomus carolinensis Eastern whip-poor-will, Antrostomus vociferus
Hummingbirds
Order: ApodiformesFamily: Trochilidae
Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. They are the only birds that can fly backwards.
Ruby-throated hummingbird, Archilochus colubris
Rails, gallinules, and coots Order: GruiformesFamily: Rallidae
The Rallidae is a large family of small to medium-sized birds which includes the rails, crakes, coots, and gallinules. The most typical family members occupy dense vegetation in damp environments near lakes, swamps, or rivers. In general they are shy and secretive, making them difficult to observe. Most have strong legs with long toes, short rounded wings, and are weak fliers.
Clapper rail, Rallus crepitans Common gallinule, Gallinula galeata American coot, Fulica americana
Stilts and avocets Order: CharadriiformesFamily: Recurvirostridae
Recurvirostridae is a family of large wading birds which includes the avocets and stilts. The avocets have long legs and long up-curved bills. The stilts have extremely long legs and long, thin, straight bills.
Black-necked stilt, Himantopus mexicanus American avocet, Recurvirostra americana
Oystercatchers Order: CharadriiformesFamily: Haematopodidae
The oystercatchers are large, conspicuous, and noisy plover-like birds, with strong bills used for smashing or prising open molluscs.
American oystercatcher, Haematopus palliatus
Plovers and lapwings Order: CharadriiformesFamily: Charadriidae
The family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short thick necks, and long, usually pointed, wings. They are generally found in open country, mostly in habitats near water.
Black-bellied plover, Pluvialis squatarola Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus Semipalmated plover, Charadrius semipalmatus Piping plover, Charadrius melodus Wilson's plover, Charadrius wilsonia
Sandpipers and allies
Order: CharadriiformesFamily: Scolopacidae
Scolopacidae is a large and diverse family of small to medium-sized shorebirds which includes the sandpipers, curlews, godwits, shanks, tattlers, woodcocks, snipes, dowitchers, and phalaropes. Most eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or sand. Different lengths of legs and bills enable multiple species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food.
Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus Ruddy turnstone, Arenaria interpres Red knot, Calidris canutus Sanderling, Calidris alba Dunlin, Calidris alpina Purple sandpiper, Calidris maritima Least sandpiper, Calidris minutilla Semipalmated sandpiper, Calidris pusilla Western sandpiper, Calidris mauri Short-billed dowitcher, Limnodromus griseus Wilson's snipe, Gallinago delicata Spotted sandpiper, Actitis macularius Solitary sandpiper, Tringa solitaria Lesser yellowlegs, Tringa flavipes Willet, Tringa semipalmata Greater yellowlegs, Tringa melanoleuca Red-necked phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus Red phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius
Skuas and jaegers
Order: CharadriiformesFamily: Stercorariidae
Skuas are medium to large seabirds, typically with gray or brown plumage, often with white markings on the wings. They have longish bills with hooked tips and webbed feet with sharp claws. They look like large dark gulls, but have a fleshy cere above the upper mandible. They are strong, acrobatic fliers.
Pomarine jaeger, Stercorarius pomarinus Parasitic jaeger, Stercorarius parasiticus
Gulls, terns, and skimmers
Order: CharadriiformesFamily: Laridae
The Laridae are a family of medium to large seabirds and containing the gulls, terns, kittiwakes, and skimmers. They are typically gray or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have stout, longish bills and webbed feet.
Bonaparte's gull, Chroicocephalus philadelphia Laughing gull, Leucophaeus atricilla Franklin's gull, Leucophaeus pipixcan Ring-billed gull, Larus delawarensis Herring gull, Larus argentatus Lesser black-backed gull, Larus fuscus Glaucous gull, Larus hyperboreus Great black-backed gull, Larus marinus Brown noddy, Anous stolidus Sooty tern, Onychoprion fuscata Least tern, Sternula antillarum Caspian tern, Hydroprogne caspia Black tern, Chlidonias niger Common tern, Sterna hirundo Arctic tern, Sterna paradisaea Forster's tern, Sterna forsteri Royal tern, Thalasseus maxima Sandwich tern, Thalasseus sandvicensis Black skimmer, Rynchops niger
Tropicbirds Order: PhaethontiformesFamily: Phaethontidae
Tropicbirds are slender white birds of tropical oceans with exceptionally long central tail feathers. Their long wings have black markings, as does the head.
Red-billed tropicbird, Phaeton aethereus (A)
Loons Order: GaviiformesFamily: Gaviidae
Loons are aquatic birds the size of a large duck, to which they are unrelated. Their plumage is largely gray or black and they have spear-shaped bills. Loons swim well and fly adequately but, because their legs are placed towards the rear of the body, are clumsy on land.
Red-throated loon, Gavia stellata Common loon, Gavia immer
Southern storm-petrels Order: ProcellariiformesFamily: Oceanitidae
The storm-petrels are the smallest seabirds, relatives of the petrels, feeding on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the ocean's surface, typically while hovering. The flight is fluttering and sometimes bat-like.
Wilson's storm-petrel, Oceanites oceanicus
Shearwaters and petrels Order: ProcellariiformesFamily: Procellariidae
The procellariids are the main group of medium-sized "true petrels", characterized by united tubular nostrils with a median septum.
Sargasso shearwater, Puffinus lherminieri
Storks
Order: CiconiiformesFamily: Ciconiidae
Storks are large, heavy, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long stout bills and wide wingspans. They lack the powder down that other wading birds such as herons, spoonbills and ibises use to clean off fish slime. Storks lack a pharynx and are mute.
Wood stork, Mycteria americana
Frigatebirds Order: SuliformesFamily: Fregatidae
Frigatebirds are large seabirds usually found over tropical oceans. They are large, black, or black-and-white, with long wings and deeply forked tails. The males have colored inflatable throat pouches. They do not swim or walk and cannot take off from a flat surface. Having the largest wingspan-to-body-weight ratio of any bird, they are essentially aerial, able to stay aloft for more than a week.
Magnificent frigatebird, Fregata magnificens
Boobies and gannets
Order: SuliformesFamily: Sulidae
The sulids comprise the gannets and boobies. Both groups are medium-large coastal seabirds that plunge-dive for fish.
Brown booby, Sula leucogaster Red-footed booby, Sula sula (A) Northern gannet, Morus bassanus
Anhingas
Order: SuliformesFamily: Anhingidae
Anhingas, also known as darters or snakebirds, are cormorant-like water birds with long necks and long, straight beaks. They are fish eaters, diving for long periods, and often swim with only their neck above the water, looking rather like a water snake.
Anhinga, Anhinga anhinga
Cormorants and shags Order: SuliformesFamily: Phalacrocoracidae
Cormorants are medium-to-large aquatic birds, usually with mainly dark plumage and areas of colored skin on the face. The bill is long, thin, and sharply hooked. Their feet are four-toed and webbed.
Double-crested cormorant, Nannopterum auritum
Ibises and spoonbills Order: PelecaniformesFamily: Threskiornithidae