Species of Special Concern
Many birds in Washington are showing signs of decline due to habitat loss and other environmental threats. Some of these species are still relatively common and widespread while others have all but disappeared from the state. After careful scientific monitoring, various government agencies and non-governmental organizations formally designate those species deemed most at risk, placing them on special lists in order to provide protection and call attention to their status. Designations from four of the most important lists are compiled in the table below: the federal List of Threatened and Endangered Species (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), the Audubon/American Bird Conservancy Watch List, the state Species of Concern list (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife), and the Audubon Washington Vulnerable Birds list.
Click on the name at the head of the column for further details about each list, or on a species' name on the table to go to its BirdWeb account.
| Federal Endangered Species List | Audubon/American Bird Conservancy Watch List | State Endangered Species List | Audubon Washington Vulnerable Birds List | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brant | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Cackling Goose (Aleutian subspecies) | -- | -- | Monitored | Early Warning |
| Trumpeter Swan | -- | Yellow List | -- | High Concern |
| Canvasback | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Redhead | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Harlequin Duck | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Barrow's Goldeneye | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Hooded Merganser | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Greater Sage-Grouse | Candidate | Yellow List | Threatened | Immediate Concern |
| Sooty Grouse | -- | Red List | -- | Early Warning |
| Sharp-tailed Grouse | -- | -- | Threatened | Immediate Concern |
| Mountain Quail | -- | Yellow List | -- | Early Warning |
| Common Loon | -- | -- | Sensitive | Early Warning |
| Yellow-billed Loon | -- | Yellow List | -- | -- |
| Horned Grebe | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Red-necked Grebe | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Western Grebe | -- | -- | Candidate | High Concern |
| Clark's Grebe | -- | Yellow List | Monitored | Early Warning |
| Laysan Albatross | -- | Red List | -- | -- |
| Black-footed Albatross | -- | Red List | -- | Early Warning |
| Short-tailed Albatross | Endangered | Red List | Candidate | -- |
| Pink-footed Shearwater | -- | Red List | -- | Early Warning |
| Buller's Shearwater | -- | Yellow List | -- | -- |
| Sooty Shearwater | -- | Yellow List | -- | -- |
| American White Pelican | -- | -- | Endangered | Early Warning |
| Brown Pelican | Endangered | -- | Endangered | Early Warning |
| Brandt's Cormorant | -- | -- | Candidate | Early Warning |
| Pelagic Cormorant | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| American Bittern | -- | -- | -- | Immediate Concern |
| Great Blue Heron | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Great Egret | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Green Heron | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Turkey Vulture | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Osprey | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Bald Eagle | Delisted - Recovered | -- | Sensitive | Early Warning |
| Cooper's Hawk | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Northern Goshawk | -- | -- | Candidate | Immediate Concern |
| Swainson's Hawk | -- | Yellow List | Monitored | Early Warning |
| Ferruginous Hawk | -- | -- | Threatened | Immediate Concern |
| Golden Eagle | -- | -- | Candidate | High Concern |
| Merlin | -- | -- | Candidate | Early Warning |
| Gyrfalcon | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Peregrine Falcon | Delisted - Recovered | -- | Sensitive | Early Warning |
| Prairie Falcon | -- | -- | Monitored | High Concern |
| Sandhill Crane | -- | -- | Endangered | Early Warning |
| American Golden-Plover | -- | Yellow List | -- | -- |
| Snowy Plover (Western subspecies) | Threatened | Yellow List | Endangered | Immediate Concern |
| Black Oystercatcher | -- | -- | Monitored | Early Warning |
| Black-necked Stilt | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Wandering Tattler | -- | Yellow List | -- | -- |
| Upland Sandpiper | -- | -- | Endangered | -- |
| Whimbrel | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Long-billed Curlew | -- | Yellow List | Monitored | Immediate Concern |
| Bar-tailed Godwit | -- | Yellow List | -- | -- |
| Marbled Godwit | -- | Yellow List | -- | Early Warning |
| Ruddy Turnstone | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Black Turnstone | -- | Yellow List | -- | Early Warning |
| Surfbird | -- | Yellow List | -- | Early Warning |
| Red Knot | -- | Yellow List | -- | Immediate Concern |
| Sanderling | -- | Yellow List | -- | Early Warning |
| Semipalmated Sandpiper | -- | Yellow List | -- | -- |
| Western Sandpiper | -- | Yellow List | -- | -- |
| Rock Sandpiper | -- | Red List | -- | Early Warning |
| Stilt Sandpiper | -- | Yellow List | -- | -- |
| Buff-breasted Sandpiper | -- | Red List | -- | -- |
| Short-billed Dowitcher | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Wilson's Phalarope | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Heermann's Gull | -- | Yellow List | -- | Early Warning |
| Thayer's Gull | -- | Yellow List | -- | -- |
| Western Gull | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Caspian Tern | -- | -- | Monitored | High Concern |
| Black Tern | -- | -- | Monitored | Early Warning |
| Arctic Tern | -- | -- | Monitored | Early Warning |
| Forster's Tern | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Elegant Tern | -- | Yellow List | -- | -- |
| Common Murre | -- | -- | Candidate | Early Warning |
| Marbled Murrelet | Threatened | Yellow List | Threatened | Immediate Concern |
| Ancient Murrelet | -- | Yellow List | -- | -- |
| Cassin's Auklet | -- | -- | Candidate | Early Warning |
| Tufted Puffin | -- | -- | Candidate | Early Warning |
| Band-tailed Pigeon | -- | -- | -- | High Concern |
| Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Western population) | Candidate | -- | Candidate | -- |
| Flammulated Owl | -- | Yellow List | Candidate | High Concern |
| Snowy Owl | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Burrowing Owl | -- | -- | Candidate | High Concern |
| Spotted Owl (Northern subspecies) | Threatened | Red List | Endangered | Immediate Concern |
| Great Gray Owl | -- | -- | Monitored | Early Warning |
| Short-eared Owl | -- | Yellow List | -- | High Concern |
| Boreal Owl | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Black Swift | -- | Yellow List | Monitored | Immediate Concern |
| Vaux's Swift | -- | -- | Candidate | Early Warning |
| White-throated Swift | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Black-chinned Hummingbird | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Calliope Hummingbird | -- | Yellow List | -- | Early Warning |
| Rufous Hummingbird | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Lewis's Woodpecker | -- | Red List | Candidate | High Concern |
| Acorn Woodpecker | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Williamson's Sapsucker | -- | Yellow List | -- | Early Warning |
| Red-naped Sapsucker | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Red-breasted Sapsucker | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| White-headed Woodpecker | -- | Yellow List | Candidate | Immediate Concern |
| American Three-toed Woodpecker | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Black-backed Woodpecker | -- | -- | Candidate | Early Warning |
| Pileated Woodpecker | -- | -- | Candidate | Early Warning |
| Olive-sided Flycatcher | -- | Yellow List | -- | Immediate Concern |
| Willow Flycatcher | -- | Yellow List | -- | Early Warning |
| Hammond's Flycatcher | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Gray Flycatcher | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Dusky Flycatcher | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Pacific-slope Flycatcher | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Ash-throated Flycatcher | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Loggerhead Shrike | -- | -- | Candidate | Immediate Concern |
| Cassin's Vireo | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Horned Lark (Streaked subspecies) | Candidate | -- | Endangered | Immediate Concern |
| Purple Martin | -- | -- | Candidate | High Concern |
| Boreal Chickadee | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| White-breasted Nuthatch (Slender-billed subspecies) | -- | -- | Candidate | Early Warning |
| Pygmy Nuthatch | -- | -- | Monitored | Early Warning |
| Western Bluebird | -- | -- | Monitored | Early Warning |
| Varied Thrush | -- | Yellow List | -- | -- |
| Gray Catbird | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Sage Thrasher | -- | -- | Candidate | High Concern |
| Yellow Warbler | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Black-throated Gray Warbler | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Hermit Warbler | -- | Yellow List | -- | Early Warning |
| Northern Waterthrush | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| MacGillivray's Warbler | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Yellow-breasted Chat | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Green-tailed Towhee | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Chipping Sparrow | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Brewer's Sparrow | -- | Yellow List | -- | High Concern |
| Vesper Sparrow (Oregon subspecies) | -- | -- | Candidate | Immediate Concern |
| Sage Sparrow | -- | Yellow List | Candidate | High Concern |
| Grasshopper Sparrow | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Lazuli Bunting | -- | -- | -- | Early Warning |
| Bobolink | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |
| Rusty Blackbird | -- | Yellow List | -- | -- |
| Lesser Goldfinch | -- | -- | Monitored | -- |