Yes. No account, no email, no ads. Pick a place and download the PDF.

Where does the bird data come from?

Public, license-clean records from GBIF, the IOC World Bird List, USGS, and iNaturalist.

Does it work outside the US?

Yes. Every US state, plus countries, continents, and a global list — anywhere with bird occurrence records.

A birding tradition: count how many species you can see in one place over a calendar year. The same approach works for a Big Day, Big Week, or Big Month.

Can I customize my checklist?

Yes. Filter by season, common vs rare, and family before you download.

Big Year Bird Checklist for Minnesota

A free printable Minnesota bird checklist. Pick your goal, get the PDF.

Minnesota's checklist is the best in the lower 48 for boreal specialties. The Sax-Zim Bog in winter is a national destination.

The tool builds you a printable checklist of every bird realistically possible in Minnesota, grouped by family, with seasonal markers and a space to log the date you spot each one. It's drawn from public, license-clean records — not a generic national list, but the species that actually occur where you're birding.

Pick Minnesota (or any area inside it), choose your goal — Big Day, Big Month, Big Year, or a life list — and download the PDF. Free, no account, no email. Print it, fold it in a field guide, and start checking birds off.

What you'll find on a Minnesota checklist

A Minnesota checklist mixes widespread residents with the specialties that make the state worth a big year. A few you'll want to target:

Great Gray Owl — The Sax-Zim flagship.
Northern Hawk Owl — Diurnal boreal owl.
Boreal Owl — Scarce northern night bird.
Spruce Grouse — Conifer-bog resident.
Sharp-tailed Grouse — Open-country lek.
Connecticut Warbler — Tamarack-bog skulker.
Black-billed Magpie — Northwest-corner resident.
Boreal Chickadee — Spruce specialist.
Evening Grosbeak — Irruptive winter finch.
LeConte's Sparrow — Wet-meadow skulker.
Yellow Rail — McGregor Marsh phantom.
Common Loon — State bird, lake icon.

Your generated PDF includes every realistic species for the exact area you pick, with seasonal markers and a space to log each sighting.

This is a preview. For your full printable list:

Build a complete, customizable Minnesota checklist — filter by season, by how common a bird is, and by family, then download the PDF.

What kind of list do you need?

Birders use “Big” challenges to make birding count. Pick the timeframe you're working with, and I'll tune the list for it.

Better With Birds

Shop the birds you love

Chasing a Minnesota big year? You're going to like the apparel, prints, and stickers we've designed around these birds.

Great Gray Owl, Northern Hawk Owl, Boreal Owl, Spruce Grouse — all illustrated and designed by Jaymi at Better With Birds. Made-to-order, never mass-printed.