Lake McConaughyLake McConaughy, Nebraska’s largest lake, is 22 miles long, three miles wide and covers almost 35,000 acres when full.

Located on the North Platte River along the southern edge of the Nebraska Sandhills, the reservoir provides such a variety of habitat types that it is home to one of the largest and most diverse bird populations documented in the United States.

Listed below are 313 species of birds that have been identified on or near the shores of Lake McConaughy and/or Lake Ogallala (which lies just below McConaughy’s Kingsley Dam). The species list is in accordance with the Sixth American Ornithologists’ Union Checklist and was reproduced from Richard Rosche’s Birds of the Lake McConaughy Area and the North Platte River Valley (1994). The list was updated in 1998 with the assistance of Stephen J. Dinsmore of the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union.

Months of occurrence are in parentheses, “all” indicates the species has occurred in the area during every month, * indicates birds have bred in the area.
Loons – Grebes
Red-throated Loon (5)
Common Loon (1,3-12)
Pacific Loon (1,5-8,11,12)
Yellow-billed Loon (8-10)
Pied-billed Grebe (all)*
Horned Grebe (1-5,10-12)
Red-necked Grebe (1,11,12)
Eared Grebe (1,3-12)
Western Grebe (all)*
Clark’s Grebe (1,3-12)*		Pelicans – Cormorants
American White Pelican (1,3-12)
Double-crested Cormorant (1,3-12)*		Bitterns – Herons – Ibises – Vultures
American Bittern (4,5,7,9,10)
Least Bittern (5,8)
Great Blue Heron (all)*
Great Egret (4,5,7-10)
Snowy Egret (4,5,7-9)
Little Blue Heron (5,8,9)
Cattle Egret (4-11)*
Green Heron (5-9)
Black-crowned Night Heron (1,4,5,7-10)
White-faced Ibis (4-6,8,9)
Turkey Vulture (3-10)*
Geese – Swans – Ducks
Greater White-fronted Goose (1-3,7,8,10-12)
Snow Goose (1-5,10-12)
Ross’s Goose (1-5,11,12)
Brant (11,12)
Canada Goose (all)*
Trumpeter Swan (1-4,11,12)
Tundra Swan (11,12)
Wood Duck (all)*
Gadwall (all)*
Eurasian Wigeon (5)
American Wigeon (all)
Mallard (all)*
Blue-winged Teal (3-11)*
Cinnamon Teal (3-6)
Northern Shoveler (all)
Northern Pintail (all)
Green-winged Teal (all)
Canvasback (1-6,8-12)
Redhead (all)
Ring-necked Duck (1-5,10-12)
Greater Scaup (1-4,11,12)
Lesser Scaup (all)
Surf Scoter (4,5,10-12)
White-winged Scoter (1-5,11,12)
Black Scoter (1,10-12)
Oldsquaw (1-4,11,12)
Bufflehead (1-5,7,10-12)
Common Goldeneye (1-6,8-12)
Barrow’s Goldeneye (1-4,11,12)
Hooded Merganser (1-6,10-12)
Common Merganser (all)
Red-breasted Merganser (1-5,11,12)
Ruddy Duck (all)*		Hawks – Falcons
Osprey (4-6,8-10)
Bald Eagle (1-5,8-12)
Northern Harrier (all)*
Sharp-shinned Hawk (1-5,9-12)
Cooper’s Hawk (1-5,9-12)
Northern Goshawk (1-4,12)
Broad-winged Hawk (4,5,9)
Swainson’s Hawk (4-10)*
Red-tailed Hawk (all)*
Ferruginous Hawk (1-5,7,10-12)
Rough-legged Hawk(1-4,10-12)
Golden Eagle (1-6,9-12)*
American Kestrel (all)*
Merlin (1-4,8-12)
Prairie Falcon (all)
Peregrine Falcon (4,5,8-10)
Gyrfalcon (1)

 

Pheasant – Quail – Turkey
Ring-necked Pheasant (all)*
Sharp-tailed Grouse (all)*
Greater Prairie Chicken (all)*
Wild Turkey (all)*
Northern Bobwhite (all)*

Rails – Coots – Cranes
King Rail (4-6,9-12)
Virginia Rail (all)*
Sora (4-11)*
American Coot (all)*
Sandhill Crane (2-6, 10-12)
Whooping Crane (4,5,10,11)

 

Plovers – Sandpipers
Black-bellied Plover (5-11)
American Golden Plover (4,9,10)
Snowy Plover (6-8)
Semipalmated Plover (4,5,7-10)
Piping Plover (4-8)*
Killdeer (all)*
Black-necked Stilt (5)
American Avocet (4-12)
Greater Yellowlegs (3-5,7-12)
Lesser Yellowlegs (3-11)
Solitary Sandpiper (4,5,7-9)
Willet (4-8)
Spotted Sandpiper (4-10)*
Upland Sandpiper (4-8)*
Whimbrel (5)
Long-billed Curlew (3-9)*
Hudsonian Godwit (4,5)
Marbled Godwit (4-10)
Ruddy Turnstone (5)
Red Knot (5,8)
Sanderling (4-11)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (4,5,7-11)
Western Sandpiper (4,5,7-10)
Least Sandpiper (4,5,7-12)
White-rumped Sandpiper (5,6)
Baird’s Sandpiper (3-5,7-12)
Pectoral Sandpiper (4,5,7-10)
Dunlin (4,5)
Stilt Sandpiper (4,5,7-10)
Buff-breasted Sandpiper (5,8,9)
Short-billed Dowitcher (7-9)
Long-billed Dowitcher (3-5,7-11)
Common Snipe (all)
Wilson’s Phalarope (4-9)
Red-necked Phalarope (5,8,9)		Gulls – Terns
Long-tailed Jaeger (10)
Parasitic Jaeger (10)
Laughing Gull (6)
Franklin’s Gull (1, 3-12)
Little Gull (4,9)
Bonaparte’s Gull (1,3-5,9-12)
Mew Gull (2-5)
Ring-billed Gull (all)
California Gull (all)
Herring Gull (all)
Thayer’s Gull (1-4,11,12)
Iceland Gull (1-4)
Lesser Black-backed Gull (1-4,8)
Glaucous Gull (1-4,12)
Glaucous-winged Gull (4)
Great Black-backed Gull (2,4,8)
Black-legged Kittiwake (5)
Sabine’s Gull (9-10)
Caspian Tern (4-10)
Common Tern (5,7-9)
Forster’s Tern (4-10)
Least Tern (5-8)*
Black Tern (4-10)

 

Doves – Cuckoos – Owls – Swifts – Kingfisher
Rock Dove (all)*
Mourning Dove (all)*
Black-billed Cuckoo (6-8)*
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (5-9)*
Barn Owl (3-10)*
Eastern Screech Owl (all)*
Great Horned Owl (all)*
Burrowing Owl (4-10)*
Long-eared Owl (2,5)
Short-eared Owl (1,2,12)
Northern Saw-whet Owl (5)
Common Nighthawk (5-9)*
Common Poorwill (4-10)*
Chimney Swift (4-9)*
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (5)
Belted Kingfisher (all)*		Woodpeckers – Flycatchers
Red-headed Woodpecker (4-10)*
Red-bellied Woodpecker (1-4,6,9-12)
Downy Woodpecker (all)*
Hairy Woodpecker (all)*
Northern Flicker (all)*
Olive-sided Flycatcher (5,8,9)
Western Wood-Pewee (5-8)*
Eastern Wood-Pewee (5-8)
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (5,6)
Willow Flycatcher (5-7)*
Least Flycatcher (5-8)
Eastern Phoebe (3-8)*
Say’s Phoebe (3-9)*
Great Crested Flycatcher (5-9)*
Cassin’s Kingbird (5,7)
Western Kingbird (4-9)*
Eastern Kingbird (4-9)*
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (5,6,8-10)		Shrikes – Vireos
Loggerhead Shrike (3-9)*
Northern Shrike (1-4,9-12)
White-eyed Vireo (5)
Bell’s Vireo (5-9)*
Yellow-throated Vireo (5)
Blue-headed Vireo (5,10)
Warbling Vireo (5-9)*
Red-eyed Vireo (5,7-9)

 

Jays – Crow – Lark – Swallows
Blue Jay (all)*
Pinyon Jay (11)
Clark’s Nutcracker (11)
Black-billed Magpie (all)*
American Crow (all)*
Horned Lark (all)*
Purple Martin (4-8)*
Tree Swallow (3-10)*
Violet-green Swallow (4,5,7,8)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (4-9)*
Bank Swallow (4-9)*
Cliff Swallow (4-9)*
Cave Swallow (5,6)
Barn Swallow (4-10)*		Chickadee – Nuthatches – Wrens
Black-capped Chickadee (all)*
Red-breasted Nuthatch (1-5,9-12)
White-breasted Nuthatch (1-3,6-8,10-12)
Brown Creeper (1-4,10-12)
Rock Wren (4-9)*
House Wren (4-10)*
Winter Wren (2,11,12)
Marsh Wren (all)*		Kinglets – Thrushes – Thrashers
Golden-crowned Kinglet (1-4,10-12)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (3-5,9-12)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (5,6)
Eastern Bluebird (all)*
Mountain Bluebird (1-3,10-12)
Townsend’s Solitaire (1-5,9-12)
Veery (5,6)
Gray-cheeked Thrush (5)
Swainson’s Thrush (5,6,9)
Wood Thrush (5,6)
American Robin (all)*
Gray Catbird (5-11)*
Northern Mockingbird (4-7,12)*
Brown Thrasher (4-11)*
Starlings – Pipits – Waxwings
European Starling (all)*
American Pipit (3-5,8-12)
Sprague’s Pipit (4)
Bohemian Waxwing (1-3,11,12)
Cedar Waxwing (all)*

 

Wood Warblers
Blue-winged Warbler (5)
Golden-winged Warbler (5,6)
Tennessee Warbler (5)
Orange-crowned Warbler (4,5,9,10)
Nashville Warbler (5,10)
Northern Parula (5)
Yellow Warbler (5-9)*
Magnolia Warbler (5)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (5,6,8)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (5)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (1,2,4,5,9-12)
Townsend’s Warbler (5)
Blackburnian Warbler (5,10)
Pine Warbler (5)
Prairie Warbler (5)
Bay-breasted Warbler (5)
Blackpoll Warbler (5,6)
Black-and-white Warbler (5,6)
American Redstart (5-9)
Prothontary Warbler (5)
Worm-eating Warbler (7)
Ovenbird (5-9)
Northern Waterthrush (5,8)
Connecticut Warbler (6)
Mourning Warbler (5)
MacGillivray’s Warbler (5,6,9)
Common Yellowthroat (4-10)*
Hooded Warbler (5)
Wilson’s Warbler (5,8,9)
Canada Warbler (5)
Yellow-breasted Chat (5-9)*
Tanagers – Sparrows – Grosbeaks
Scarlet Tanager (5,7)
Western Tanager (5,9)
Spotted Towhee (4-11)*
Cassin’s Sparrow (5-7)*
American Tree Sparrow (1-4,10-12)
Chipping Sparrow (4-10)
Clay-colored Sparrow (4,5,7-10)
Brewer’s Sparrow (4)
Field Sparrow (4-10)*
Vesper Sparrow (3-5,8-10)
Lark Sparrow (4-9)*
Black-throated Sparrow (5)
Lark Bunting (5-9)
Savannah Sparrow (1,4,5,8-10)
Grasshopper Sparrow (4-9)*
Baird’s Sparrow (5)
Fox Sparrow (10)
Song Sparrow (1-5,8-12)
Lincoln’s Sparrow (4,5,9,10)
Swamp Sparrow (5-10,12)*
White-throated Sparrow (5,10,11)
Harris’ Sparrow (1-5,10-12)
White-crowned Sparrow (1-5,9-12)
Dark-eyed Junco (1-5,9-12)
McCown’s Longspur (10)
Lapland Longspur (1-3,10-12)
Chestnut-collared Longspur (3-5,9)
Snow Bunting (2,12)
Northern Cardinal (all)*
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (5,8,9)
Black-headed Grosbeak (5-9)*
Blue Grosbeak (5-9)*
Lazuli Bunting (5,7,9,10)
Indigo Bunting (5-9)*
Dickcissel (5-7)*
Blackbirds – Finches
Bobolink (5-8)*
Red-winged Blackbird (all)*
Eastern Meadowlark (3-9)*
Western Meadowlark (all)*
Yellow-headed Blackbird (3-11)*
Rusty Blackbird (4,10-12)
Brewer’s Blackbird (3-5,7,9-11)
Common Grackle (all)*
Great-tailed Grackle (4,5)
Brown-headed Cowbird (3-10)*
Orchard Oriole (5-8)*
Baltimore Oriole (5-9)*
Bullock’s Oriole (5-9)
Gray-crowned Rosy Finch (2)
Purple Finch (1-4,11,12)
House Finch (all)*
Red Crossbill (1,3-5,10-12)
Common Redpoll (1,2,12)
Pine Siskin (all)
American Goldfinch (all)*
Evening Grosbeak (1-5,11,12)
House Sparrow (all)*