In this article I’ll be going over 11 orange birds that can be found across the state of North Dakota so continue reading for a more detailed look at each bird below.

• Baltimore Oriole
• Orchard Oriole
• Eastern Towhee
• Spotted Towhee
• Eastern Bluebird
• Cooper’s Hawk
• American Kestrel
• American Robin
• Red Breasted Nuthatch
• American Redstart
• Barn Swallow

11 Orange Birds In North Dakota

1. Baltimore Oriole (Icterus Galbula)

• Size: 15 –  20cm
• Weight: 28 – 43 grams
• Wingspan: 23 – 30cm

Baltimore orioles can be found in all of North Dakota in their spring and summer breeding months.

These orioles are recognised by their orange, black and white plumage, their head and wings that are a black color, their breast and the underside of the tail yellow with a beak that’s black in color. Females are yellow too but, their head isn’t black like the males.

Baltimore orioles can be found within open deciduous woodlands where they will build their nests within American elms, cottonwoods, and maples. 

As for the types of food they eat, it includes a variety of small insects like ants, wasps. beetles, grasshoppers, flies among others, flower nectar and smaller fruits like berries. They also feed on sugar water found within feeders.

These orioles are known to live for around 11 years in the wild, which is actually on the longer side for birds of their size.

2. Orchard Oriole (Icterus Spurious)

• Size: 15 – 18cm
• Weight: 16 – 28 grams
• Wingspan: 23 – 27cm

You’ll be able to spot these orchard orioles all across North Dakota when breeding, typically encompassing the spring and summer months. 

Orchard orioles are recognised by their orange breast and belly with their neck, head and back black in color. Females on the other hand are almost completely yellow with elements of gray throughout their body.

As for where you can find these birds, they will often be located around semi-open habitats with deciduous trees and open space, including riverside trees, orchards, suburbs, forest edges,  forest clearings and prairie groves. 

These orioles like most other orioles will consume a number of unique food sources such as insects, nectar from flowers, sugar water from feeders and a number of other smaller berries and fruits.

Orchard orioles can live for around 11 years in the wild.

3. Eastern Towhee (Pipilo Erythrophthalmus)

• Size: 17 – 23cm
• Weight: 35 – 45 grams
• Wingspan: 20 – 30cm

Eastern towhees are breeding residents across the northern border and northeast region of North Dakota.

Towhees are recognised by their black, white and orange feathers with their back, head and wings black in color, their side chest orange in color with the underside of the breast white in color. Females follow a similar plumage color scheme but their back is a duller gray color with the breast a mixture of orange and white.

These avians will spend the majority of their time staying at open woods, undergrowth, brushy edges where they prefer being around ground cover to  forage for food. 

Eastern Towhee consume a unique amount of different food sources such as insects like beetles, caterpillars, moths, true bugs, ants, spiders, snails, and millipedes, smaller reptiles like salamanders, lizards, or snakes, seeds, acorns, berries, and smaller fruits.

Eastern Towhees are known to live for around 12 years in the wild.

4. Spotted Towhee (Pipilo Maculatus)

• Size: 17 – 21cm
• Weight: 33 – 49 grams
• Wingspan: 27 – 31cm

Spotted towhees are breeding residents in the western region of North Dakota. 

These towhees are recognised by their black, white and rusty orange plumage where the sides of their breast appear to be orange, the middle of the belly and breast white, the wings black with a spotted white pattern and lastly the back, head and tail feathers black in color. Females look similar to the males but are grayish brown in color.

You’ll often find a spotted towhee around open woods, undergrowth, brushy edges generally living within chaparral, mountain manzanita thickets, scrub oaks, or pinyon-juniper woods with dense understory.

A spotted towhees diet isn’t all that different from the majority of birds where they will consume mostly smaller insects, seeds, berries and other smaller cultivated fruits.

Spotted towhee are known to have a lifespan of around 11 years at the top end of their life expectancy.

5. Eastern Bluebird (Sialia Sialis)

• Size: 16 – 21cm
• Weight: 27 – 34 grams
• Wingspan: 25 – 33cm

Eastern bluebirds are spring and summer breeding residents throughout the majority of North Dakota when they breed.

These bluebirds are recognised by their blue back and upper head, their rusty orange neck and breast, with the belly a white color. Females on the other hand have all the blue parts of the plumage replaced by a darker gray color.

You’ll often eastern bluebirds around open country around trees, with little understory and sparse ground cover. This could also include habitats like frequently burned pine savannas, beaver ponds, mature but open woods, and forest openings.

Eastern bluebirds normally consume a variety of smaller insects, suet, smaller fruits and a variety of berries.

As for how long eastern bluebirds live for, it tends to be around the 6 – 10 year range.

6. Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter Cooperii)

• Size: 35 – 51cm
• Weight: 400 – 700 grams
• Wingspan: 73 – 94cm

You’ll find cooper’s hawks across the majority of North Dakota when breeding.

Cooper’s hawks are recognised by their gray back and upper head with a orange and white patterned breast, legs and underside of the wing. The females and males look very much the same but, the females are around 30% larger than the opposite gender.

You’ll often find a cooper’s hawk around pines, oaks, Douglas-firs, beeches, spruces, and other tree species, often on flat ground rather than hillsides, and in dense woods.

As for what they eat, it includes mainly medium-sized birds including robins, jays, flickers, among other smaller and even larger birds. Small mammals like chipmunks, tree squirrels, ground squirrels, mice, bats, etc. are included in their diet too.

Cooper’s hawks tend to live for around 10 – 12 years on average whilst the oldest recorded hawk surpassed the 20 year mark.

7. American Kestrel (Falco Sparverius)

• Size: 20 – 24cm
• Weight: 115 – 125 grams
• Wingspan: 50 – 60cm

These American kestrels can be found all across North Dakota in their spring and summer breeding seasons. 

American kestrels are recognised by their spotted orange, gray, black and white plumage with their back orange with a black horizontal pattern, their wings a gray color, black tail feathers and orange sides with a gray and white head that has 2 black lines drawn vertically near both eyes. Females are mostly light brown.

American kestrels can be found in a variety of open or semi-open habitats from forest clearings, farmland and deserts. 

As for what they eat, it includes small mammals such as woodmice and shrews, small birds, insects, earthworms with voles being their go to food source.

Wild American kestrels are known to live for around 5 years but, captive variants have been known to hit 17+ years.

8. American Robin (Turdus Migratorius)

• Size: 12.5 – 14cm
• Weight: 16 – 22 grams
• Wingspan: 20 – 22cm

American robins are year round residents in southeast North Dakota and can be found in the remainder of the state when they breed.

These robins are recognised by their gray wings, back and tail, black head, yellow beak and orange belly/breast. Females have a far duller color scheme where the plumage that is black is mostly gray whilst the breast is a lighter orange tint.

American robins are often seen around woodlands, suburban backyards, parks, and grasslands with shrubs.

As for what they eat, it includes fruits, seeds, suet, crushed peanuts, sunflower hearts, raisins and a variety of insects like beetles, flies, worms, etc.

American robins have a lifespans of around 2 years on average, though some have been known to live up to 5 or 6 year.

9. Red Breasted Nuthatch (Sitta Canadensis)

• Size: 11 – 13cm
• Weight: 9 – 13 grams
• Wingspan: 18 – 22cm

Red breasted nuthatches can be found in all of North Dakota throughout the non-breeding fall and winter months.

These Nuthatches have rusty orange colored breast feathers, gray wings and back, with a vertical black and white striped pattern on their head. Females are very similar in color scheme but, their plumage does look duller and more washed out.

You can find a red breasted nuthatch around coniferous forests of spruce, fir, pine, hemlock, larch, and western red cedar.

As for what they eat, it includes insects and seeds where they mostly eat spiders in the summer whilst around winter they chow down on a variety of different seeds, especially seeds in conifers.

The lifespan of red breasted nuthatch is around 6 years on average.

10. American Redstart (Setophaga Ruticilla)

• Size: 11 – 14cm
• Weight: 6 – 9 grams
• Wingspan: 16 – 19cm

American redstarts can be found in the eastern and western regions of North Dakota when breeding.

American redstarts are mostly black with elements of orange/yellow on their wings, side of their breast and the bottom their tail with their breast white in color with the remainder of their body being black. Females are mostly gray, yellow and white.

The habitat American redstarts inhabit include moist, second-growth hardwood forests, with a dense shrub layer and a lot open wooded environments. 

As for what they eat it includes a wide variety of insects including beetles, caterpillars, moths, leafhoppers, aphids, midges, crane flies, daddy longlegs, smaller fruits and seeds.

On average American redstarts will live for around 5 years in the wild whilst the oldest recorded redstart’s lifespan was 10 years old.

11. Barn Swallow (Hirundo Rustica)

• Size: 17 – 20cm
• Weight: 17 – 21 grams
• Wingspan: 33 – 36cm

Barn swallows can be found all throughout North Dakota in their spring and summer breeding months. 

Barn swallows are recognised by their dark blue, white and rusty orange plumage with the back a dark blue color with the breast and neck rusty orange in color. Females look very similar to the males but their breast plumage is white as opposed to rusty orange like the males.

These avians spend the majority of their time in farmlands or open pastures near water where they’ll occasionally build their mud and straw nests on ledges, generally on farm buildings.

Barn swallows mostly consume seeds, insects, fruits and a variety of berries.

These swallows tend to live for around 2 years on average, with the upper end of their lifespan being roughly 11 years.