Types of Birds - Avian Orders

Common Name: Grebes

Scientific Name: Podicipediformes
# Species in U.S. & Canada: 7

Description: Small duck-like aquatic birds with flat, lobed toes and diminutive tails. Most have white wing patches, pointed bills, and white wing patches. They forage in marshes and ponds for aquatic animals, and build floating nests in marshy ponds.
Example: Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis).

Common Name: Tube-nosed seabirds

Scientific Name: Procellariiformes
# Species in U.S. & Canada: 21

Description: Medium to large, gull-like birds of the open sea with long, narrow wings, small tails, and tube-like external nostrils on the top of their bill. They usually glide low over the wave tops, or rest in tight flocks near large concentrations of prey. They feed at the water's surface or make shallow dives for carrion, refuse, or small animals including fish, shrimp, or crustaceans. They nest on oceanic islands, which is the only time they normally come to land. Includes albatrosses, fulmars, and petrels.
Example: Northern Fulmar (Fulmaris glacialis).

Common Name: Pelicans and relatives

Scientific Name: Pelecaniformes
# Species in U.S. & Canada: 18

Description: This avian order includes a wide range of water birds whose main similarities include a diet of fish and webbed feet with four toes. Members of this avian order include pelicans, frigatebirds, tropicbirds, gannets, boobies, anhingas, and cormorants.
Example: Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis).

Common Name: Waterfowl

Scientific Name: Anseriformes
# Species in U.S. & Canada: 58

Description: All members of Anseriformes in the U.S. and Canada belong to the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, eiders, geese, and swans. These species have webbed feet and spend a significant amount of time swimming on the surface of water bodies.
Example: Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata).

Common name: Flamingos

Scientific Name: Phoenicopteriformes
# Species in U.S. & Canada: 1

Description: Worldwide, there are only 5 species, and in North America, only a single flamingo species – the Greater Flamingo. Flamingos are very tall wading birds that forage in large areas of shallow water.
Example: Greater Flamingo (Phoenicoptrus ruber).

Common name: Herons, storks, ibises, bitterns, New World vultures and relatives.

Scientific Name: Ciconiiformes
# Species in U.S. & Canada: 21

Description: Herons, bitterns, and storks are medium to large wading birds with long legs, long necks, and long bills. Other waders in this order have specialized bill shapes. New World vultures feed on terrestrial carrion, and are observed soaring and roosting in groups.
Example: Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias).

Common Name: Diurnal birds of prey

Scientific Name: Falconiformes
# species in U.S. & Canada: 31

Description: These birds are distinguished by their hunting of live prey - which they capture and kill with sharp, powerful talons and bills. These diurnal birds of prey spend much time soaring, and often fly great distances in search of food.
Example: Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).

Common Name: Fowlike birds

Scientific Name: Galliformes
# Species in U.S. & Canada: 21

Description: Also called upland game birds;, this order includes turkeys, pheasants, grouse, partridges, and quail. They are plump, mostly secretive birds that forage on the ground for vegetation and insects. When disturbed, they fly rapidly upwards for short distances in order to escape potential danger.
Example: California Quail (Callipepla californica).

Common Name: Cranes, rails and relatives

Scientific Name: Gruiformes
# Species in U.S. & Canada: 12

Description: Birds in this order exhibit a diversity of body forms and behavior but they all inhabit wetlands and forage on small animals and wetland vegetation.
Example: Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis).

Common Name: Shorebirds, gulls, terns, Alcids, and relatives

Scientific Name: Charadriiformes
# Species in U.S. & Canada: 115

Description: An abundant and diverse avian order with a wide array of body plans and behaviors. Shorebirds are small to medium-sized birds that forage for small animals in mudflats using long, thin bills and long legs. Gulls are large, mainly omnivorous birds associated with oceans and inland lakes. Most gulls are gregarious and nest colonially on the ground. Alcids are oceanic birds that forage on fish by diving and swimming under water in shallow coastal waters. Terns hunt for fish from the air and plummet into the water after their prey.
Example: American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana).