If you’re interested in birds that start with the letter A, then we have a comprehensive list of them for you!
From Accentors to Avocets and Anhinga to Antbirds, you’ll find plenty of birds beginning with A to help you with your research projects.
Accentor, Alpine
This bird is about the size of a robin, with a length of 15–17.5 cm. It is slightly bigger than its close relative, the dunnock. The brown streaks on its back make it look like a house sparrow, but adults have a grey head and reddish-brown spots on their undersides.
Albatross, Black-browed
The black-browed albatross, also known as the black-browed mollymawk, is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae; it is the most widespread and common member of its family.
Anhinga
The anhinga, sometimes called snakebird, darter, American darter, or water turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. The word anhinga comes from the Brazilian Tupi language and means “devil bird” or “snake bird”.
Ani, Greater
The greater ani is a cuckoo-like bird. People sometimes call it the “black cuckoo.”
Ani, Groove-billed
The groove-billed ani is a tropical bird with a long tail and a big, curved beak. It belongs to the cuckoo family. It lives year-round in most of its range, which includes southern Texas, central Mexico, The Bahamas, Central America, northern Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru’s coasts.
Ani, Smooth-billed
The Smooth-billed ani is a bird in the family of cuckoos. It lives and breeds in southern Florida, the Caribbean, parts of Central America, south to western Ecuador, Brazil, northern Argentina, and southern Chile, where it is a resident breeder.
Ant-tanager, Red-crowned
The red-crowned ant tanager is a passerine bird from tropical America. It is about the size of a robin. For a long time, the genus Habia was put with the tanagers, but it is actually more closely related to the cardinals.
Avocet, Pied
The pied avocet is a large, black-and-white wading bird in the family Recurvirostridae, which also includes avocets and stilts. They live in temperate Europe, Central Asia, and the Russian Far East, where they breed. The birds migrate, and most of them spend the winter in Africa or southern Asia.
Ant-tanager, Red-throated
The red-throated ant tanager is a passerine bird that is about the size of a robin. This species lives and breeds on the slopes of the Caribbean from the southern tip of Mexico to the eastern tip of Panama. It was thought to be an odd kind of tanager and put in the family Thraupidae, but it is more closely related to the cardinals.
Antbird, White-bellied
The white-bellied antbird is a passerine bird that lives in the tropical New World from Panama to northern Brazil and Trinidad. It is also called Swainson’s antcatcher, usually in historical texts, because William John Swainson was the first scientist to write about it. The genus only has one type.
Antbird, White-browed
The white-browed antbird is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It sits on the ground and eats ants. It lives in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. It lives in subtropical or tropical lowland moist forests and subtropical or tropical highland moist forests.
Antpitta, Rusty-tinged
The rusty-tinged antpitta is a species of bird in the family Grallariidae. It is endemic to Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forest and heavily degraded former forest.
Antshrike, Barred
The barred antshrike is in the antbird family, which is a passerine bird. It lives in the Neotropics, from Tamaulipas, Mexico, through Central America, Trinidad and Tobago, and a large part of South America east of the Andes, as far south as northern Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay.
Antshrike, Black-crowned
This bird is rare in tropical lowlands. It lives mostly in forest edges, plantations, open woods, and second growth. Mostly hunts for food at low to middle levels. Like many antbirds, they often hunt in pairs and sing to each other.
Antshrike, Great
The great antshrike is a passerine bird in the antbird family, Thamnophilidae. It is the only member of the genus Taraba. It is a resident breeder in the tropical New World in southern Mexico, Central America, Trinidad and South America down to northern Argentina and southeastern Brazil.
Antvireo, Plain
The plain antvireo is a passerine bird species in the antbird family. It is a resident breeder in tropical Central and South America.
Antvireo, Spot-crowned
The spot-crowned antvireo is a type of bird from the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. It lives in moist lowland forests that are either subtropical or tropical.
Antwren, Checker-throated
The checker-throated antwren is a small bird in the antbird family. It is also called the fulvous-bellied antwren or checker-throated stipplethroat. As its name suggests, the males have a “checkered” pattern of black and white on their throats.
Antwren, Dot-winged
This species lives in tropical lowlands where there are humid forests and forest edges. Most of the time, they are found in pairs or small groups. They move quickly through vine tangles and leafy thickets at low to middle levels in the understory and along the edge.
Antwren, Long-winged
The long-winged antwren is a bird species in the Thamnophilidae family. It lives in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. It lives in moist lowland forests that are either subtropical or tropical.
Antwren, White-flanked
The white-flanked antwren is an insectivorous bird in the antbird family, Thamnophilidae. The scientific name for the White-Flanked Antwren is Myrmotherula axillaris.
The aquatic warbler is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It breeds in temperate eastern Europe and western Asia, with an estimated population of 11,000-15,000 pairs. It is migratory, wintering in west Africa.
Aracari, Chestnut-eared
The chestnut-eared aracari is a bird that lives in the central and southeast parts of South America. It is in the same family as the toucan and the aracari. The chestnut-eared aracari is bigger and has more colours than its close relative, the black-necked aracari, which it looks like in other ways.
Aracari, Collared
The collared aracari, also called the collared toucan, is a bird that is almost a passerine. From the southern part of Mexico to Panama, as well as in Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and Costa Rica, this bird breeds.
Aracari, Lettered
Small Toucan bird that lives in the southern Amazon. The top is mostly dark, and the bottom is all yellow. It gets its name from the dark, wavy lines on its bill. Most of the time, they live in pairs or small groups in the canopy of lowland forests and along the edges, all the way up to the foothills of the Andes.
The Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) is one of four types of puffin and is a striking, pelagic sea bird. It is recognised by its brightly colored rounded beak and its similar appearance to a penguin. Also known as the ‘Common Puffin’, it is the only puffin species which is found in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Audubon’s Shearwater bird, (Puffinus lherminieri) also known as the dusky-backed shearwater, is a common seabird of the tropics from the family Procellariidae. Audubon’s Shearwater is a medium sized sea bird commonly seen from the yachts around the Galapagos islands.
The Australasian Grebe (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae) is a small water bird that is found throughout Australia and many Pacific Ocean islands and is now also resident in New Zealand where it was self introduced.
The Australian Pelican is found across Australia and New Guinea on many inland and coastal waters but tends to avoid the very dry desert regions mainly located in the centre of the continent.
The Australian Swiftlet (Aerodramus terraereginae) is a small bird endemic to Queensland, Australia particularly in the tropical north east regions.
Avadavat, Red
The red avadavat, red munia, or strawberry finch is a bird in the family Estrildidae. It is about the size of a sparrow. It lives in the open fields and grasslands of tropical Asia. The males’ colourful plumage during breeding season makes them popular cage birds.
Avocet, American
The American avocet is a large wader in the family Recurvirostridae, which also includes avocets and stilts. It spends most of its time looking for food in shallow water or on mud flats. It often moves its bill from side to side in the water as it looks for insects and crustaceans.
Avocet, Andean
The Andean avocet is a large wading bird in the family Recurvirostridae, which also includes avocets and stilts. It lives in the Andes and breeds above 3500 m in the northwest of Argentina, the west of Bolivia, the north of Chile, and the south of Peru.