Birds That Start With W

28 birds Animals and nature Checked 9 Oct 2026

Here are 28 birds that start with W, each with a one-line description so you can tell what it is. The best-known ones come first, then the full list in A to Z order.

W holds 28 birds, and the wren, the woodpecker and the warbler are the ones most people meet first. The whooping crane is a rare North American crane with black and white feathers, a good choice for a project on rare birds.

Wood is a common start: wood duck, wood pigeon, woodcock and wood swallow. The wagtail jerks its long tail up and down as it walks, which children love to copy. The weka is a flightless New Zealand rail with a thievish habit, and the wandering albatross is a very large seabird with wide black wings.

Birds starting with W: 28
Best known: wren, woodpecker
Longest name: wandering albatross

Best-known birds that start with W

The ones most people will recognise, good for school lists, quizzes and games.

wren
woodpecker
warbler
whooping crane

All birds that start with W

#	Name	What it is
1	wagtail	Old World bird having a very long tail that jerks up and down as it walks
2	wall creeper	crimson-and-grey songbird that inhabits town walls and mountain cliffs of southern Eurasia and northern Africa
3	wandering albatross	very large albatross; white with wide black wings
4	warbler	a small active songbird
5	water thrush	brownish North American warbler found near streams
6	waxwing	brown velvety-plumaged songbirds of the northern hemisphere having crested heads and red waxy wing tips
7	weaver	finch-like African and Asian colonial birds noted for their elaborately woven nests
8	weka	flightless New Zealand rail of thievish disposition having short wings each with a spur used in fighting
9	wheatear	small songbird of northern America and Eurasia having a distinctive white rump
10	whippoorwill	American nocturnal goatsucker with grey-and-white plumage
11	whistling swan	North American subspecies of tundra swan having a soft whistling note
12	white pelican	large American pelican; white with black wing feathers
13	white stork	the common stork of Europe; white with black wing feathers and a red bill
14	whooping crane	rare North American crane having black-and-white plumage and a trumpeting call
15	widow bird	mostly black African weaverbird
16	wigeon	freshwater duck of Eurasia and northern Africa related to mallards and teals
17	willet	large North American shorebird of eastern and Gulf Coasts
18	winter wren	small wren of coniferous forests of northern hemisphere
19	wood duck	showy North American duck that nests in hollow trees
20	wood pigeon	Eurasian pigeon with white patches on wings and neck
21	wood stork	any of several Old World birds of the genus Ibis
22	wood swallow	Australasian and Asiatic bird related to the shrikes and resembling a swallow
23	wood thrush	large thrush common in eastern American woodlands; noted for its melodious song
24	wood-creeper	any of numerous South American and Central American birds with a curved bill and stiffened tail feathers that climb and...
25	woodcock	game bird of the sandpiper family that resembles a snipe
26	woodpecker	bird with strong claws and a stiff tail adapted for climbing and a hard chisel-like bill for boring into wood for...
27	wren	any of several small active brown birds of the northern hemisphere with short upright tails; they feed on insects
28	wren-tit	small brown bird of California resembling a wren

Short birds with W

wren
weka

Questions people ask

How many birds start with W?

This list has 28 birds starting with W, from well-known ones like wren, woodpecker, warbler to rarer kinds.

What birds start with W?

Well-known examples are wren, woodpecker, warbler, whooping crane.

Source: Princeton WordNet, a public dictionary database, reviewed by our editors to keep only clear, real members of the list. Meanings are short dictionary glosses.

See every letter on one page: birds A to Z