When it comes to birdwatching, it’s easy to get dazzled by the showy reds of a Northern Cardinal or the electric blues of a Mountain Bluebird. But don’t let the gray birds fool you—they’re not dull, just understated. In fact, North America is home to a surprisingly rich array of gray-toned birds, each with its own charm, behavior, and ecological role.
From the sleek silhouette of a Northern Mockingbird belting out borrowed tunes, to the quiet elegance of a Gray Catbird skulking in dense shrubs, these birds prove that subtlety can be stunning. Some gray birds are year-round residents; others are long-distance migrants navigating impressive seasonal journeys.
We’ll dive into the world of Illinois’s gray birds: how to identify them, where to find them, and what makes each one special. Whether you’re a backyard birder or a seasoned lister with mud on your boots and binos at the ready, there’s something here for you. These gray birds are listed in order of how common they are in Illinois, according to bird watcher lists for the state.
Because when you learn to appreciate the grays, you realize the bird world is anything but black and white.
1. Black-capped Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadees are residents of Illinois all year, but they are spotted mainly in the north of the state. They are recorded in 27% of summer checklists and 34% of winter checklists submitted by bird watchers for the state.
The Black-capped Chickadee is a cute bird with a big round head and tiny body. These birds will happily feed at backyard feeders and investigate everything, including you!
They have black caps and beaks, white cheeks, and are gray on the back, wings, and tail.
- Poecile atricapillus
- Length: 4.7-5.9 in (12-15 cm)
- Weight: 0.3-0.5 oz (9-14 g)
- Wingspan: 6.3-8.3 in (16-21 cm)
Black-capped Chickadees do not migrate and can be spotted in the northern half of the US and Canada.
You can find them in forests, open woods, and parks. Black-capped Chickadees eat seeds, berries and insects, spiders, and suet.
Attract Black-capped Chickadees to your backyard with suet, sunflower seeds, and peanuts or peanut butter. They will even feed from your hand and are often one of the first birds to discover new feeders. They will also use nest boxes, especially if you fill them with wood shavings.
2. White-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatches do not migrate and are found in Illinois all year. They are spotted in 19% of summer checklists and 26% of winter checklists.
White-breasted Nuthatches are active little birds that are gray-blue on the back and white on the face and belly, with a black cap. They will often have a chestnut color on the lower belly and under the tail.
- Sitta carolinensis
- Length: 5.1-5.5 in (13-14 cm)
- Weight: 0.6-1.1 oz (18-30 g)
- Wingspan: 7.9-10.6 in (20-27 cm)
White-breasted Nuthatches live all year in the US and southern Canada.
You can find White-breasted Nuthatches in deciduous forests, woodland edges, parks, and yards with trees or at feeders. They mainly eat insects, including beetles and their larvae, caterpillars, ants, and also spiders.
White-breasted Nuthatches also eat seeds and nuts, including acorns, hawthorns, sunflower seeds, and sometimes corn crops. They jam large nuts and acorns into tree bark and then whack them with their bills to open or ‘hatch’ them to get the seed out.
Attract White-breasted Nuthatches to your backyard with sunflower seeds and peanuts on tube feeders or suet feeders.
3. Dark-eyed Junco
Dark-eyed Juncos are mainly spotted in Illinois from October until May. They are the most frequently spotted sparrows during winter and appear in 43% of checklists at this time.
Dark-eyed Juncos are sparrows that are different a color depending on the state. They are generally slate-colored in the east and black, white, and brown in the west.
- Junco hyemalis
- Length: 5.5-6.3 in (14-16 cm)
- Weight: 0.6-1.1 oz (18-30 g)
- Wingspan: 7.1-9.8 in (18-25 cm)
Dark-eyed Juncos remain resident all year in the northeastern and western US states and the Appalachian Mountains. Those that breed in Canada and Alaska migrate south in winter to the United States.
You can find Dark-eyed Junco in open and partially wooded areas, often on the ground, and they are common across the continent. They mainly feed on seeds but will also eat some insects.
Attract Dark-eyed Juncos to backyard feeders with a variety of seeds such as black oil sunflower seeds, nyjer, cracked corn, millet, and peanuts. Platform feeders or seeds scattered on the ground are best.
4. Gray Catbird
Gray Catbirds spend the breeding season in Illinois and occur in 34% of summer checklists. They are mainly spotted from May to October, but a few remain in the state all year.
Gray Catbirds are so named because of their distinctive catty mew song that can last for up to 10 minutes. They are medium-sized songbirds with a slate gray coloring, black cap and tail, and a reddish patch under their tails.
- Dumetella carolinensis
- Length: 8.3-9.4 in (21-24 cm)
- Weight: 0.8-2.0 oz (23.2-56.5 g)
- Wingspan: 8.7-11.8 in (22-30 cm)
Gray Catbirds breed in the Midwest, eastern US states, and southern Canada before heading to the Gulf Coast and the Caribbean for winter. Some remain all year along the East Coast.
You can spot Gray Catbirds in dense shrubs, small trees, and along forest edges or hedgerows. They are named after their ‘mew’ sounding call.
Attract Gray Catbirds to your backyard with fruit and fruit trees or shrubs such as dogwood, winterberry, and serviceberry.
5. Rock Pigeon
Rock Pigeons are an introduced species in Illinois and are residents of the state all year. They are recorded in up to 10% of summer and winter checklists.
Rock Pigeons are blueish gray with two black bands on the wing and black on the tail tip. They have iridescent throat feathers and orange eyes.
- Columba livia
- Length: 11.8-14.2 in (30-36 cm)
- Weight: 9.3-13.4 oz (265-380 g)
- Wingspan: 19.7-26.4 in (50-67 cm)
Rock Pigeons do not migrate and can be found in all US states, southern Canada, and the Pacific Coast to Alaska.
They are common in cities and visit backyards, especially for birdseed on the ground. Some cities have ordinances against feeding pigeons as they are considered pests.
6. Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouses are residents of Illinois all year. They appear in 9% of summer checklists and 11% of winter checklists.
Tufted Titmouses are gray on the back and white underneath with a cute gray crest and large eyes. They often flock with chickadees, nuthatches, and woodpeckers.
- Baeolophus bicolor
- Length: 5.5-6.3 in (14-16 cm)
- Weight: 0.6-0.9 oz (18-26 g)
- Wingspan: 7.9-10.2 in (20-26 cm)
Tufted Titmouses live in eastern and southeastern US states all year
You can find Tufted Titmouses in woodlands, parks, and backyard feeders, and they can be assertive over smaller birds, pushing in to get to the food first.
Tufted Titmouses eat mostly insects in summer, including caterpillars, beetles, ants, and wasps, as well as spiders and snails. They will also eat seeds, nuts, and berries and will hoard shelled seeds.
Attract Tufted Titmice to your backyard feeders with sunflower seeds, suet, and peanuts on tube feeders or suet cages. They will also eat from platform feeders. You can also try putting up a nest box to attract a breeding pair.
7. Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher
Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers breed in Illinois and occur in 21%of summer checklists. They arrive in mid-March and start to migrate in October.
A tiny songbird in a soft blue-gray color on the back and grayish-white underneath. They have a black tail and patches on their wings. Males have a distinctive black ‘V’ shape on their foreheads in summer.
They have long tails and legs and small, thin, straight bills.
- Length: 3.9-4.3 in (10-11 cm)
- Weight: 0.2-0.3 oz (4.8-8.9 g)
- Wingspan: 6.3 in (16 cm)
Blue-gray Gnatcatchers breed in deciduous forests in the Southern and Eastern States before heading south. They do also remain all year in Florida and in southern coastal areas.
Feeding on insects and spiders by constantly hopping around and scaring them by flicking their tail up and down.
8. Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Wood-Pewees breed in Illinois from mid-April to October and are recorded in 20% of summer checklists.
The Eastern Wood-Pewee is a small, slender flycatcher with a sweet, whistled “pee-a-wee” song that echoes through Eastern forests in summer. This bird is olive-gray above, with pale underparts, dusky wings, and faint wingbars. Its upright posture and peaked crown give it a subtly perky look.
- Contopus virens
- Length: 5.9 in (15 cm)
- Weight: 0.4–0.5 oz (11–14 g)
- Wingspan: 9.1 in (23 cm)
You’ll find Eastern Wood-Pewees perched quietly in deciduous woods, forest edges, and shaded clearings. They prefer areas with tall trees and an open understory—perfect for their style of foraging. Like other flycatchers, they sit still, then sally out to snap up flying insects mid-air.
These birds are long-distance migrants, wintering in Central and South America. They’re more often heard than seen, thanks to their habit of singing persistently from high perches in the canopy.
Eastern Wood-Pewees do not visit feeders, so the best way to enjoy them is by walking wooded trails in late spring or summer and listening for their unmistakable, plaintive song.
9. Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Kingbirds appear in 19% of summer checklists. They are best spotted in Illinois from April to September.
Eastern Kingbirds are medium-sized, large-headed flycatchers that are blackish on the back and white underneath. Their heads are darker black, and they have a white tip on the tail.
They get their name ‘king’ from the aggression they show each other and other birds when defending their nests. They have a concealed crown of yellow, orange, or red feathers, which they raise when defending themselves or their nest.
- Tyrannus tyrannus
- Length: 7.5-9.1 in (19-23 cm)
- Weight: 1.2-1.9 oz (33-55 g)
- Wingspan: 13.0-15.0 in (33-38 cm)
They breed in the US before heading south into Central and South America for winter. They usually breed in fields, orchards, and along forest edges. They can often be found nesting near water such as rivers or lakes.
Eastern Kingbirds catch insects in midair, including bees, wasps, ants, beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, bugs, and flies. They will often perch up above fields waiting for insects to fly past. They will also eat fruit, including serviceberries, cherries, blackberries, and elderberries.
You can attract more Eastern Kingbirds to your yard with native berry bushes and having lots of native vegetation that attracts insects.
10. Warbling Vireo
Warbling Vireos spend the breeding season in Illinois from April to September and occur in 19% of summer checklists.
The Warbling Vireo may not be flashy, but its cheerful, rolling song gives it away long before you spot it. This small, olive-gray songbird has a plain face with a white eyebrow and faint grayish crown stripe, giving it a subtly endearing look. Its underparts are whitish to pale yellow, and its back and wings are soft grayish-olive.
- Vireo gilvus
- Length: 4.7–5.1 in (12–13 cm)
- Weight: 0.3–0.5 oz (10–14 g)
- Wingspan: 8.7 in (22 cm)
These vireos are summer residents throughout much of the US and southern Canada, where they breed in deciduous woods, riverside groves, parks, and suburban shade trees. Despite their inconspicuous appearance, they’re common and widespread in the right habitat during the warmer months.
Warbling Vireos primarily eat insects and other small invertebrates, which they glean from foliage high in the canopy. They’ll also take berries and some fruit, especially later in the season.Warbling Vireos are not typically feeder birds, so attracting them to your backyard can be tricky. Your best bet is to maintain tall, mature trees, especially near water, to mimic their natural breeding habitat.
11. Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Chickadees are spotted all year in Illinois, mainly in the south of the state. They are recorded in 2% of summer checklists and 4% of winter checklists submitted by bird watchers for the state.
Carolina Chickadees are tiny birds with large heads, black caps and necks, white cheeks and bellies, and soft gray backs, wings, and tails.
They are visually very similar to the Black-capped Chickadee, and they interbreed where their range overlaps.
- Poecile carolinensis
- Length: 3.9-4.7 in (10-12 cm)
- Weight: 0.3-0.4 oz (8-12 g)
- Wingspan: 5.9-7.9 in (15-20 cm)
Carolina Chickadees can be found in forested areas, parks, and backyards in eastern and southeastern US states all year.
Attract Carolina Chickadees to your backyard feeders with black oil sunflower seeds, nyjer seeds, suet feeders, or peanuts. They will feed on most types of feeders, including tube feeders, suet cages, or platform feeders. They will also nest in nest boxes or nest tubes.
12. Black-and-white Warbler
Black-and-white Warblers can be found in Illinois during migration, mainly from April to May and August to October. They appear in up to 20% of checklists during spring migration and 14% of checklists during fall migration.
Black-and-white Warblers are quite distinctive and so more easy to identify with their striped appearance. Males have a large black patch across the eye and cheek and are a darker black than females.
- Mniotilta varia
- Length: 4.3-5.1 in (11-13 cm)
- Weight: 0.3-0.5 oz (8-15 g)
- Wingspan: 7.1-8.7 in (18-22 cm)
Black-and-white Warblers breed in the eastern United States and Canada. They spend the winter in Florida, along the Gulf Coast, and down through Mexico, Baja California, the Caribbean, and northern South America. They can be seen during migration in central US states.
You can spot Black-and-white Warblers hopping up and down on tree trunks and branches in forests, looking for insects.
13. Northern Parula
Northern Parulas are spotted in Illinois from April to November and occur in 6% of summer checklists. They spend the breeding season in the south of the state and are also seen migrating across the rest of the state.
Northern Warblers are a colorful contrast of blueish-gray and yellow. They are bluish-gray on the back with a yellow patch on the back and with two white wingbars.
Males have a chestnut band that separates the yellow throat and chest that adorns both males and females. Females are paler than males and lack the chestnut band. Juveniles are paler.
- Setophaga americana
- Length: 4.3-4.7 in (11-12 cm)
- Weight: 0.2-0.4 oz (5-11 g)
- Wingspan: 6.3-7.1 in (16-18 cm)
Northern Parulas breed in the eastern US states and southeastern Canada before heading to Central America and the Caribbean for winter. They may remain for winter in southern Florida.
You can find Northern Parulas feeding on insects high up in deciduous forests.
Attract Northern Parula to your backyard with native trees and shrubs, especially those with berries, and leave brush piles for insect-friendly areas.
14. Willow Flycatcher
Willow Flycatchers breed in Illinois from May to September and are spotted in 6% of summer checklists.
The Willow Flycatcher is a modest little bird with an olive-gray back, pale underparts, and a faint eye ring that’s often hard to see. While it may look similar to other Empidonax flycatchers (a notoriously tricky group to identify), it stands out by voice—its sharp, burry “FITZ-bew” call is the easiest way to tell it apart.
- Empidonax traillii
- Length: 5.3–5.9 in (13.5–15 cm)
- Weight: 0.4–0.6 oz (11–16 g)
These flycatchers breed across much of the U.S. and southern Canada in shrubby wetlands, willow thickets, and brushy areas near water. They’re migratory, heading to Central and South America for the winter.
Willow Flycatchers are active insect hunters, often perching upright before launching out to catch flying insects mid-air. They’ll also pick prey from leaves and branches in typical flycatcher fashion.
Willow Flycatchers are not attracted to feeders, so the best way to spot one is to find the right habitat and listen for its distinctive song during breeding season.
15. Northern Mockingbird
Northern Mockingbirds are spotted in Illinois all year. They are recorded in up to 2% of summer and winter checklists.
Northern Mockingbirds are medium-sized songbirds with small heads and long tails. They are a gray-brown color and slightly paler on the underside than their back, and they have two white wingbars visible in flight.
- Mimus polyglottos
- Length: 8.3-10.2 in (21-26 cm)
- Weight: 1.6-2.0 oz (45-58 g)
- Wingspan: 12.2-13.8 in (31-35 cm)
Northern Mockingbirds do not migrate and can be spotted across the lower 48 and southern Canada.
They are usually seen alone or in pairs and aggressively defend their territory. A male mockingbird can learn around 200 songs in its life, copying other birds’ songs, and they can sing all through the day and into the night.
Attract Northern Mockingbirds to your backyard by planting fruiting trees or bushes, including hawthorns, mulberries, and blackberry brambles. They don’t often visit feeders, but they will come to open lawn areas.
16. Eurasian Collared-Dove
Eurasian Collared-Doves are an introduced species in Illinois but they are found in the state all year. They appear in 1% of summer and winter checklists.
Eurasian Collared-Doves are light brownish-gray, with white patches in the tail, and look very similar to Mourning Doves, but with a black half collar at the nape of the neck. They are also larger and with a square tail rather than pointed.
- Streptopelia decaocto
- Length: 11.4-11.8 in (29-30 cm)
- Weight: 4.9-6.3 oz (140-180 g)
- Wingspan: 13.8 in (35 cm)
Eurasian Collared-Doves are an introduced species that only arrived in the 1980s but now live across most of the United States.
You can find Eurasian Collared-Doves in most areas, including rural and suburban and they eat a wide variety of seeds and grain but also eat some berries and insects.
17. Loggerhead Shrike
Loggerhead Shrikes are not very common in Illinois but there have been sightings here all year.
Don’t let the dapper look fool you—the Loggerhead Shrike is one of the most surprising songbirds in North America. With its black mask, gray back, and hooked beak, it resembles a tiny raptor in disguise. And in some ways, it acts like one too: this songbird is a predator known for catching insects, rodents, lizards, and even small birds—then impaling them on thorns or barbed wire to store for later. Seriously.
- Lanius ludovicianus
- Length: 8.3–9.1 in (21–23 cm)
- Weight: 1.6–1.8 oz (45–50 g)
- Wingspan: 11.0–12.6 in (28–32 cm)
Loggerhead Shrikes prefer open habitats like grasslands, pastures, desert scrub, and roadside fences. They need scattered shrubs or wires for perching, and thorny vegetation or fencing to stash their prey. Their range stretches across the southern U.S. year-round, with some movement north in summer for breeding.
Despite their tough-guy tactics, Loggerhead Shrikes are declining across much of their range due to habitat loss and pesticide use, and they’re listed as a species of conservation concern in many states and provinces.
Loggerhead Shrikes do not come to feeders, but birders can spot them by scanning low perches in open country, especially near fields with brush or hedgerows.
