Backyard Birds in Wyoming: A Field Guide to the Species at Your Feeder
Wyoming is the least populated state in the country, and that emptiness is exactly what makes it such good bird habitat — vast stretches of sagebrush steppe, high plains, and mountain wilderness with barely any development to speak of. Backyard feeders here tend to be genuinely rural, often the only reliable food source for miles, which means they can pull in a surprising density of birds once the weather turns cold.
Yellowstone and Grand Teton anchor the northwest corner of the state, but even outside the parks, Wyoming’s high plains and river bottoms hold their own distinct bird communities.
The State Bird: Western Meadowlark
Wyoming’s state bird is the Western Meadowlark, shared with several other western states — its rich, flute-like song carrying across open grassland is one of the defining sounds of the high plains. You’ll hear it from fence posts and power lines throughout the state’s rangeland during breeding season.
High Plains and Sagebrush Birds
The sagebrush sea that covers much of the state supports species that depend on it almost entirely — Sage Grouse are the most famous, performing an elaborate strutting display at communal breeding grounds each spring, though you’re far more likely to spot Sage Thrashers or Brewer’s Sparrows at a more accessible range.
Mountain and River Corridor Birds
Along the cottonwood-lined river bottoms that cut through the plains, you’ll find a noticeably different set of species than out in the open sage — woodpeckers, orioles, and songbirds that need the tree cover the surrounding grassland can’t provide. Up in the mountains around Jackson and the Wind River Range, Clark’s Nutcrackers and Mountain Chickadees take over at elevation, feeding heavily on whitebark pine seeds where the trees still survive.
