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, and I'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.