A range map is a valuable tool for any birder, and knowing how to read bird maps appropriately can help with identifying birds knowing how to find them in the field.
Color Key
While most field guides offer some variety of range maps, the exact colors representing different bird ranges can vary. For the maps associated with bird profiles on this site, the colors are defined:
- Red - Breeding Range: Where the bird will be found mating, nesting and raising young.
- Blue - Non-Breeding Range: Where the bird spends the non-breeding season, often during the winter months in the northern hemisphere.
- Green - Year-Round Range: Where the bird can be found at all times of year, both breeding and non-breeding.
- Yellow - Migration Range: General route the species follows between breeding and non-breeding ranges.
- Orange - Irruption Range: General boundary for typical irruptions for the species; birds may be found anywhere inside that boundary during an irruption.
- Pink - Vagrant Sightings: General location of records for vagrant birds; these sightings are outside the expected range, but occur regularly enough to be noted for birders interested in rare bird sightings.
For the example map above, the fictional species is an interior western resident during the breeding season, but moves to the southeast for the winter, crossing the Great Plains during migration. In an irruption year, the species' winter range extends to the southern Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. There is also a year-round resident population on the Pacific Coast. Occasional vagrant birds have been recorded near the northern Great Lakes.
Other Range Map Information
In addition to graphic maps, each range map on this site includes basic habitat and migration information about where the birds can be found. These details can help birders know where to look in each bird's range to find the species during different seasons.
By being familiar with how to read a range map, birders can better identify birds and be more confident in the field with all the birds they see.
United States outline map © WorldAtlas.com.
