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 South Dakota

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

South Dakota's checklist crosses the prairie-pothole east and the Black Hills west — a piece of the Rockies stranded on the Great Plains.

The tool builds you a printable checklist of every bird realistically possible in South Dakota, 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 South Dakota (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 South Dakota checklist

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

Sharp-tailed Grouse — Grassland dancing-ground.
Greater Prairie-Chicken — Tallgrass-edge lek.
Sprague's Pipit — Skylarking prairie endemic.
Baird's Sparrow — Northern-prairie specialty.
Chestnut-collared Longspur — Grassland breeder.
Black Hills 'White-winged' Junco — A Black Hills form.
American Three-toed Woodpecker — Black Hills conifer specialist.
Burrowing Owl — Prairie-dog-town nester.
Ferruginous Hawk — Largest North American buteo.
Pinyon Jay — Black Hills nomad flocks.
Marbled Godwit — Prairie-pothole shorebird.
Western Meadowlark — State bird, prairie flutist.

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 South Dakota 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 — we'll tune the list for it.

Better With Birds

Shop the birds you love

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

Sharp-tailed Grouse, Greater Prairie-Chicken, Sprague's Pipit, Baird's Sparrow — all illustrated and designed by Jaymi at Better With Birds. Made-to-order, never mass-printed.