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United States United States Ramsar wetland

Cheyenne Bottoms

295 bird species recorded; the most from April to May and in September.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec249at the peak
Species recorded in each month · tap a month

Raymond M. Coveney, … · CC BY-SA 3.0

This month here

102 species in January.

The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.

Hen Harrier
Hen HarrierCircus cyaneusWinter visitorKositoes · Public domain
Bald Eagle
Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalusWinter visitormichael_eitland · CC BY 2.0
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensisWinter visitorRhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0
Snow goose
Snow gooseAnser caerulescensWinter visitorAndy Reago & Chrissy McClarren · CC BY 2.0
Canada Goose
Canada GooseBranta canadensisWinter visitorPierre5018 · CC BY-SA 4.0
American Tree Sparrow
American Tree SparrowSpizelloides arboreaWinter visitorMykola Swarnyk · CC BY-SA 3.0
American Herring Gull
American Herring GullLarus smithsonianusWinter visitorUnknown author · Public domain
Goosander
GoosanderMergus merganserWinter visitorTony Hisgett · CC BY 2.0
Snowy OwlVU
Snowy OwlBubo scandiacusWinter visitorBill Bouton from San Luis Obispo, CA, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
Mallard
MallardAnas platyrhynchosResidentTetiana.iefimenko · CC BY 4.0
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue HeronArdea herodiasResidentAcarpentier · CC BY 3.0
Greater White-fronted Goose
Greater White-fronted GooseAnser albifronsWinter visitorFrank Schulenburg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ring-billed Gull
Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensisResidentFabian Roudra Baroi · CC BY-SA 4.0
Rough-legged Buzzard
Rough-legged BuzzardButeo lagopusWinter visitorMarton Berntsen · CC BY-SA 4.0
Northern Pintail
Northern PintailAnas acutaWinter visitorJ.M.Garg · CC BY-SA 3.0
Agelaius phoeniceusAgelaius phoeniceusResident
Song Sparrow
Song SparrowMelospiza melodiaWinter visitorRhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ross's Goose
Ross's GooseAnser rossiiWinter visitorJerryFriedman · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cackling Goose
Cackling GooseBranta hutchinsiiWinter visitorRoy Lowe/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · Public domain
Common Goldeneye
Common GoldeneyeBucephala clangulaWinter visitorCalibas · CC BY-SA 3.0
Gadwall
GadwallMareca streperaWinter visitorUnknown author · CC BY-SA 2.0
Yellow-shafted Flicker
Yellow-shafted FlickerColaptes auratusWinter visitorNature's Pic's (www.naturespicsonline.com) · Attribution
American Wigeon
American WigeonMareca americanaWinter visitorDonna Dewhurst, USFWS · Public domain
American White Pelican
American White PelicanPelecanus erythrorhynchosResidentManjith Kainickara · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Resident all year
  • Summer visitor comes to breed
  • Winter visitor comes for the winter
  • Passage migrant in spring and autumn

In numbers

295 species, counted.

89out of 100

Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).

  • 295Speciesrecorded more than once
  • 215Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
  • 15ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
  • 252,267Recordsopen records within 6 km
  • 546 mAltitudeabove the sea
  • 17Raptors
  • 7Owls
  • 37Waders
  • 24Gulls & seabirds
  • 36Ducks & geese
  • 23Herons, ibises & grebes
  • 2Storks & cranes
  • 121Songbirds
  • 28Other birds

From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.

The checklist

All 295 species.

By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.

Raptors17 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Hen HarrierCircus cyaneus
  • Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
  • Turkey VultureCathartes aura
  • Falco sparveriusFalco sparverius
  • Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalus
  • Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
  • Swainson's HawkButeo swainsoni
  • Mississippi KiteIctinia mississippiensis
  • Rough-legged BuzzardButeo lagopus
  • MerlinFalco columbarius
  • Prairie FalconFalco mexicanus
  • Accipiter striatusAccipiter striatus
  • OspreyPandion haliaetus
  • Ferruginous HawkButeo regalis
  • Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
  • Golden EagleAquila chrysaetos
  • Red-shouldered HawkButeo lineatus
Owls7 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • American Barn OwlTyto furcata
  • Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
  • Burrowing OwlAthene cunicularia
  • Snowy OwlBubo scandiacusVU
  • Short-eared OwlAsio flammeus
  • Eastern Screech-OwlMegascops asio
  • Barred OwlStrix varia
Waders37 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • KilldeerCharadrius vociferusNT
  • American AvocetRecurvirostra americana
  • Black-necked StiltHimantopus mexicanus
  • Lesser yellowlegsTringa flavipesVU
  • Long-billed dowitcherLimnodromus scolopaceusNT
  • Greater YellowlegsTringa melanoleucaNT
  • Least SandpiperCalidris minutillaNT
  • Wilson's PhalaropePhalaropus tricolor
  • Baird's SandpiperCalidris bairdii
  • Semipalmated SandpiperCalidris pusillaNT
  • Stilt SandpiperCalidris himantopusNT
  • Pectoral SandpiperCalidris melanotos
  • Spotted SandpiperActitis macularius
  • WilletTringa semipalmata
  • Semipalmated PloverCharadrius semipalmatus
  • Marbled GodwitLimosa fedoaVU
  • Hudsonian GodwitLimosa haemasticaVU
  • Wilson's SnipeGallinago delicata
  • Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaVU
  • White-rumped SandpiperCalidris fuscicollisVU
  • Western SandpiperCalidris mauri
  • SanderlingCalidris alba
  • Bartram's SandpiperBartramia longicauda
  • Short-billed DowitcherLimnodromus griseusVU
  • DunlinCalidris alpinaNT
  • American golden ploverPluvialis dominica
  • Solitary SandpiperTringa solitaria
  • Piping PloverCharadrius melodusNT
  • Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpresNT
  • Long-billed CurlewNumenius americanus
  • Red-necked PhalaropePhalaropus lobatus
  • Buff-breasted SandpiperCalidris subruficollisVU
  • Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
  • Red KnotCalidris canutusNT
  • RuffCalidris pugnax
  • Grey (Red) PhalaropePhalaropus fulicarius
  • Snowy PloverCharadrius nivosusNT
Gulls & seabirds24 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensis
  • Franklin's GullLeucophaeus pipixcan
  • Forster's TernSterna forsteri
  • Black TernChlidonias niger
  • American Herring GullLarus smithsonianus
  • Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphia
  • Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscus
  • Least TernSternula antillarum
  • Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
  • Common TernSterna hirundo
  • California GullLarus californicus
  • Sabine's GullXema sabini
  • Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreus
  • Iceland GullLarus glaucoides
  • Laughing GullLeucophaeus atricilla
  • Long-tailed SkuaStercorarius longicaudus
  • Common LoonGavia immer
  • Little GullHydrocoloeus minutus
  • Pomarine SkuaStercorarius pomarinus
  • Arctic SkuaStercorarius parasiticus
  • Great Black-backed GullLarus marinus
  • Black-legged kittiwakeRissa tridactylaVU
  • Short-billed GullLarus brachyrhynchus
  • Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundus
Ducks & geese36 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Blue-winged TealSpatula discors
  • Northern ShovelerSpatula clypeata
  • MallardAnas platyrhynchos
  • Ruddy DuckOxyura jamaicensis
  • Canada GooseBranta canadensis
  • Eurasian TealAnas crecca
  • GadwallMareca strepera
  • Northern PintailAnas acuta
  • RedheadAythya americana
  • Snow gooseAnser caerulescens
  • American WigeonMareca americana
  • Lesser ScaupAythya affinis
  • Wood DuckAix sponsa
  • BuffleheadBucephala albeola
  • Greater White-fronted GooseAnser albifrons
  • Cinnamon TealSpatula cyanoptera
  • Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
  • Hooded MerganserLophodytes cucullatus
  • Ross's GooseAnser rossii
  • CanvasbackAythya valisineria
  • GoosanderMergus merganser
  • Cackling GooseBranta hutchinsii
  • Common GoldeneyeBucephala clangula
  • Greater ScaupAythya marila
  • Red-breasted MerganserMergus serrator
  • Black-bellied Whistling DuckDendrocygna autumnalis
  • Long-tailed duckClangula hyemalisVU
  • Bewick's SwanCygnus columbianus
  • Trumpeter SwanCygnus buccinator
  • Mottled DuckAnas fulvigula
  • American Black DuckAnas rubripes
  • White-winged ScoterMelanitta deglandi
  • Brent GooseBranta bernicla
  • White-cheeked PintailAnas bahamensis
  • Egyptian GooseAlopochen aegyptiaca
  • Cairina moschataCairina moschata
Herons, ibises & grebes23 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
  • American White PelicanPelecanus erythrorhynchos
  • Double-crested CormorantPhalacrocorax auritus
  • Great White EgretArdea alba
  • Snowy EgretEgretta thula
  • Plegadis chihiPlegadis chihi
  • Pied-billed GrebePodilymbus podiceps
  • Black-crowned Night-HeronNycticorax nycticorax
  • Western Cattle EgretBubulcus ibis
  • Eared GrebePodiceps nigricollis
  • American BitternBotaurus lentiginosus
  • Western GrebeAechmophorus occidentalis
  • Green HeronButorides virescens
  • Little Blue HeronEgretta caerulea
  • Phalacrocorax brasilianusPhalacrocorax brasilianus
  • Yellow-crowned Night-HeronNyctanassa violacea
  • Horned GrebePodiceps auritusVU
  • Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
  • Clark's GrebeAechmophorus clarkii
  • Tricolored HeronEgretta tricolor
  • White IbisEudocimus albus
  • Brown PelicanPelecanus occidentalis
  • Roseate SpoonbillPlatalea ajaja
Storks & cranes2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Sandhill CraneGrus canadensis
  • Whooping CraneGrus americana
Songbirds121 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Agelaius phoeniceusAgelaius phoeniceus
  • Barn swallowHirundo rustica
  • Yellow-headed BlackbirdXanthocephalus xanthocephalus
  • American Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon pyrrhonota
  • Brown-headed CowbirdMolothrus ater
  • Quiscalus mexicanusQuiscalus mexicanus
  • Eastern MeadowlarkSturnella magnaNT
  • Common GrackleQuiscalus quisculaNT
  • Common YellowthroatGeothlypis trichas
  • Common StarlingSturnus vulgaris
  • Sturnella neglectaSturnella neglecta
  • Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
  • Sand MartinRiparia riparia
  • DickcisselSpiza americana
  • Western KingbirdTyrannus verticalis
  • Tree SwallowTachycineta bicolor
  • House SparrowPasser domesticus
  • American RobinTurdus migratorius
  • Savannah SparrowPasserculus sandwichensis
  • Northern Rough-winged SwallowStelgidopteryx serripennis
  • Baltimore OrioleIcterus galbula
  • Shore LarkEremophila alpestris
  • Song SparrowMelospiza melodia
  • Toxostoma rufumToxostoma rufum
  • Blue JayCyanocitta cristata
  • White-crowned sparrowZonotrichia leucophrys
  • Marsh WrenCistothorus palustris
  • Orchard orioleIcterus spurius
  • American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
  • American GoldfinchSpinus tristis
  • Northern House WrenTroglodytes aedon
  • Lark SparrowChondestes grammacus
  • Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
  • American Tree SparrowSpizelloides arborea
  • Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
  • Harris's SparrowZonotrichia querulaNT
  • Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
  • Mangrove WarblerSetophaga petechia
  • Buff-bellied PipitAnthus rubescens
  • Loggerhead ShrikeLanius ludovicianusNT
  • Eastern phoebeSayornis phoebe
  • Warbling VireoVireo gilvus
  • Junco hyemalisJunco hyemalis
  • Purple MartinProgne subis
  • Chipping SparrowSpizella passerina
  • Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalusNT
  • Bell's VireoVireo bellii
  • Scissor-tailed FlycatcherTyrannus forficatus
  • Clay-colored SparrowSpizella pallida
  • Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
  • Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
  • Grey CatbirdDumetella carolinensis
  • House finchHaemorhous mexicanus
  • Myrtle WarblerSetophaga coronata
  • Say's phoebeSayornis saya
  • Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
  • Great Crested FlycatcherMyiarchus crinitus
  • Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
  • Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
  • Black-capped ChickadeePoecile atricapillus
  • Swamp SparrowMelospiza georgiana
  • Orange-crowned WarblerLeiothlypis celata
  • Pipilo maculatusPipilo maculatus
  • Indigo BuntingPasserina cyanea
  • White-throated SparrowZonotrichia albicollis
  • Ruby-crowned KingletRegulus calendula
  • Black-billed MagpiePica hudsonia
  • Least FlycatcherEmpidonax minimus
  • Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorum
  • Blue GrosbeakPasserina caerulea
  • Lark BuntingCalamospiza melanocorys
  • Carolina WrenThryothorus ludovicianus
  • Eastern Wood-PeweeContopus virens
  • Blue-gray GnatcatcherPolioptila caerulea
  • White-breasted NuthatchSitta carolinensis
  • Grass WrenCistothorus platensis
  • Rusty BlackbirdEuphagus carolinusVU
  • Nashville WarblerLeiothlypis ruficapilla
  • BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorusNT
  • Red-eyed VireoVireo olivaceus
  • Pine SiskinSpinus pinus
  • Tufted TitmouseBaeolophus bicolor
  • Swainson's ThrushCatharus ustulatus
  • LeConte's SparrowAmmospiza leconteii
  • Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
  • Red Fox SparrowPasserella iliaca
  • Wilson's WarblerCardellina pusilla
  • Cave SwallowPetrochelidon fulva
  • Olive-Sided FlycatcherContopus cooperi
  • Golden-crowned KingletRegulus satrapa
  • Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
  • Rose-breasted GrosbeakPheucticus ludovicianus
  • Eastern TowheePipilo erythrophthalmus
  • American RedstartSetophaga ruticilla
  • Northern ShrikeLanius borealis
  • Sprague's PipitAnthus spragueiiVU
  • Rock WrenSalpinctes obsoletus
  • Palm WarblerSetophaga palmarum
  • Black-headed GrosbeakPheucticus melanocephalus
  • Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
  • Winter WrenTroglodytes hiemalis
  • Brown CreeperCerthia americana
  • Black-and-white WarblerMniotilta varia
  • Chestnut-collared LongspurCalcarius ornatusVU
  • Lazuli BuntingPasserina amoena
  • Northern ParulaSetophaga americana
  • Tennessee WarblerLeiothlypis peregrina
  • Summer TanagerPiranga rubra
  • Mountain BluebirdSialia currucoides
  • Blackpoll WarblerSetophaga striataNT
  • Northern WaterthrushParkesia noveboracensis
  • Yellow-breasted ChatIcteria virens
  • Nelson's SparrowAmmospiza nelsoni
  • Bewick's WrenThryomanes bewickii
  • Mourning WarblerGeothlypis philadelphia
  • Cassin's SparrowPeucaea cassinii
  • Common crossbillLoxia curvirostra
  • OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
  • Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
  • Hermit ThrushCatharus guttatus
  • MacGillivray's WarblerGeothlypis tolmiei
Other birds28 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • American CootFulica americana
  • Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
  • Common PheasantPhasianus colchicus
  • Yellow-shafted FlickerColaptes auratus
  • Red-headed WoodpeckerMelanerpes erythrocephalus
  • SoraPorzana carolina
  • Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
  • Virginia RailRallus limicola
  • Eurasian Collared DoveStreptopelia decaocto
  • Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus
  • Colinus virginianusColinus virginianus
  • Wild TurkeyMeleagris gallopavo
  • Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
  • Rock DoveColumba livia
  • Downy WoodpeckerDryobates pubescens
  • Tsįįłkaałii bitłʼaaʼ halchíʼígííMelanerpes carolinus
  • Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagicaVU
  • Rallus elegansRallus elegans
  • Hairy WoodpeckerLeuconotopicus villosus
  • Greater Prairie-chickenTympanuchus cupidoNT
  • Yellow-billed CuckooCoccyzus americanus
  • LimpkinAramus guarauna
  • Ruby-throated HummingbirdArchilochus colubris
  • White-winged DoveZenaida asiatica
  • Yellow-bellied SapsuckerSphyrapicus varius
  • Greater RoadrunnerGeococcyx californianus
  • Eastern Whip-poor-willAntrostomus vociferusNT
  • Black-billed cuckooCoccyzus erythropthalmus

Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.

When to go

The most species from April to May and in September.

Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.

  1. Jan1025°/-6°16 mm
  2. Feb1197°/-5°23 mm
  3. Mar17014°/0°41 mm
  4. Apr24920°/6°66 mm
  5. May24726°/12°117 mm
  6. Jun19231°/18°98 mm
  7. Jul18234°/21°89 mm
  8. Aug20032°/20°102 mm
  9. Sep23728°/14°59 mm
  10. Oct20720°/6°58 mm
  11. Nov17812°/0°23 mm
  12. Dec1205°/-5°26 mm
  • Bar: species recorded that month.
  • Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Cheyenne Bottoms.

Body of water

Cheyenne Bottoms is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in United States, 546 m above the sea.

295 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 252,267 open records.

The most recorded are the Agelaius phoeniceus, the Great Blue Heron and the Killdeer.

127 species come for the summer, 79 for the winter and 9 only pass through.

15 are threatened worldwide, including Lesser yellowlegs, Marbled Godwit and Hudsonian Godwit.

The most species are recorded from April to May and in September.

American white pelicans, Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas - panoramio
Raymond M. Coveney, … · CC BY-SA 3.0

Get there and watch

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The place and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.

Cheyenne Bottoms seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 1marked trails within 4 kmADT - Kansas - N - Seg 4
  • 2car parks within 3 km
  • bird hides within 6 km
  • observation towers within 6 km
  • visitor centres within 6 km
  • viewpoints within 5 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • campsites within 10 km
  • places to stay within 10 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

Photographs

The place, as people saw it.

Other places nearby.

Cheyenne Bottoms

United States

  • 89Birdyas Score
  • 295Species
  • 215Migrants
  • 15Threatened

Quivira National Wildlife Refuge

United States · 34 km

  • 89Birdyas Score
  • 295Species
  • 211Migrants
  • 15Threatened

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q5094568) · CC0
Birds252,267 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
See these recordsgbif.org
SpeciesGBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.