Bird Word Search Printable

New puzzle hides 16 bird words, from the backyard to birds of prey; print it with the answer key.

Name Date

Bird Word Search

Find every word hidden in the grid. Words go across and down.

0 of 16 words found

XSTTCBSNOWYOWLT

TOJAHAPIVCIRSIR

YDOVELAEOAHHXTI

RDAARDRILEYEEAR

OHCIOERNBSEMNIP

BSWANAOEENISHOI

IPEAEGWBAXALBHL

NIDYFLOCKBDERNH

ETWWOEHIRABLFXO

NTHFEATHERWNPSZ

YSXONDUCKNICLPG

LPLIYFALCONYNMT

SIEOSPREYWGOOSE

ZTNYEAAWALSBDOA

BADPTFMPSEPGMAS

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

RobinROBIN
SparrowSPARROW
DoveDOVE
Bald EagleBALD EAGLE
FalconFALCON
OspreyOSPREY
Barn OwlBARN OWL
Snowy OwlSNOWY OWL
DuckDUCK
GooseGOOSE
SwanSWAN
HeronHERON
BeakBEAK
WingsWINGS
FeatherFEATHER
FlockFLOCK

16 of 24 words from the Bird Favorites list.

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Easy: words go across and down.

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Word list

Large print Lower-case letters Name and date line on paper

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Answer key: Bird Word Search

XSTTCBSNOWYOWLT

TOJAHAPIVCIRSIR

YDOVELAEOAHHXTI

RDAARDRILEYEEAR

OHCIOERNBSEMNIP

BSWANAOEENISHOI

IPEAEGWBAXALBHL

NIDYFLOCKBDERNH

ETWWOEHIRABLFXO

NTHFEATHERWNPSZ

YSXONDUCKNICLPG

LPLIYFALCONYNMT

SIEOSPREYWGOOSE

ZTNYEAAWALSBDOA

BADPTFMPSEPGMAS

ROBIN, SPARROW, DOVE, BALD EAGLE, FALCON, OSPREY, BARN OWL, SNOWY OWL, DUCK, GOOSE, SWAN, HERON, BEAK, WINGS, FEATHER, FLOCK

Next step Make a puzzle from the birds at your own feeder Scramble the same bird words

All 92 words

Backyard Birds 16

Blackbird The red-winged kind lives across most of North America.
Blue Jay A crested member of the crow family, common around homes in the eastern United States.
Bunting The indigo kind is a small seed-eater in the cardinal family.
Cardinal A songbird with a pointed tuft on its head; the male is a vibrant red.
Catbird A gray bird of the mimic family, named for its call, which sounds like a pet's mew.
Chickadee A small forest bird with white cheeks and buff sides that says its own name when it calls.
Crow A large, common bird with all-black plumage that shines in the light.
Dove The mourning kind is among the most plentiful birds of North America.
Flicker A medium-sized member of the woodpecker family, one of the few that migrate.
Kinglet A very small bird whose family name comes from the Latin for "little king".
Phoebe A small perching bird that may get its name from its song, fee-bee.
Robin A migratory thrush with a reddish-orange chest.
Sparrow The house kind is a small bird that lives in most of the world.
Towhee A large New World sparrow, also known as the chewink.
Vireo A small to medium perching bird; the family has 62 species.
Wren A small brown bird; nearly every kind lives in the New World.

Show all 92 words (76 more)

Birds of Prey 14

Bald Eagle A bird of prey found near open water across North America; the adult's head and tail are white.
Caracara A bird of prey in the falcon family that lives as far north as the southern United States.
Falcon The peregrine kind, about the size of a crow, is known for its speed.
Golden Eagle The most widely spread bird of its kind, living across the Northern Hemisphere.
Goshawk A raptor of leafy and evergreen forests.
Harpy Eagle No raptor is bigger anywhere in its range.
Hobby A small, slim falcon of Europe and Asia.
Merlin A small, swift falcon that preys mostly on little birds.
Osprey A raptor that lives on fish and ranges across the whole world.
Red-Tailed Hawk A broad-winged raptor that breeds from Alaska and northern Canada as far south as Panama.
Secretarybird A large African bird of prey that lives mostly on the ground.
Stoop The steep, high-speed hunting dive of a peregrine.
Talons A bald eagle swoops down and grabs fish with these.
Vulture The turkey kind is found from southern Canada to the tip of South America.

Owls 16

Barn Owl It has a heart-shaped face, long legs and powerful talons.
Barred Owl A large North American bird known informally as the eight hooter.
Burrowing Owl A small, long-legged bird of open country that lives mostly on the ground.
Eagle Owl One of the largest of its order, found over much of Europe and Asia.
Elf Owl A grayish-brown bird, roughly sparrow-sized, that often nests in woodpecker holes in cactus.
Facial Disc The dish of feathers around an owl's eyes that gathers sound and sends it to the ears.
Great Horned Owl A large, adaptable bird of the Americas that early naturalists called the winged tiger.
Hoot The low "hoo" call heard at night.
Nocturnal Busy at night and resting by day, as most owls are.
Owlet The young of a night-hunting bird of prey.
Pellet What an owl casts up: the parts of its meal that it cannot digest.
Roost To settle down to rest; also the place where a bird does it.
Screech Owl The eastern kind is stocky and short-tailed, and common in the woods from Mexico to Canada.
Silent Flight What an owl's feathers are adapted for, so that prey may not hear it coming.
Snowy Owl A large white hunter that breeds on the Arctic tundra.
Tawny Owl A stocky, medium-sized bird common in the woodlands of Europe.

Water Birds 16

Anhinga A bird of warm American waters, sometimes called the snakebird.
Avocet A wader whose Latin genus name means "bill curved backwards".
Bittern A shorter-necked, more secretive member of the heron family.
Curlew A bird with a long, slender, downcurved bill and mottled brown plumage.
Duck A waterfowl that is smaller and shorter-necked than its two close relatives.
Egret A kind of heron with white or buff plumage and fine plumes in the breeding season.
Goose A waterfowl of the genera Anser and Branta; more than one are geese.
Gull A seabird in the same family as terns and skimmers, often called a seagull.
Heron A long-legged, long-necked bird of fresh water and coasts; there are 75 kinds.
Merganser A fish-eating duck.
Moorhen A medium-sized water bird of the rail family.
Pelican A big bird that scoops up prey in the stretchy pouch under its long bill.
Pintail A migratory duck that breeds across northern Europe, Asia and North America.
Snipe A wading bird with a very long, slender bill and eyes set high on its head.
Stilt A wader named for its extremely long legs.
Swan A water bird of the genus Cygnus.

Parts of a Bird 14

Beak The hard mouthpart used for pecking, grasping, preening and feeding young.
Belly The underside of the body, between the chest and the tail.
Bill Another word for a beak.
Crest A cardinal has one on top of its head, and a cockatoo can raise or lower its own.
Eye Ring A circle of tiny feathers, often in a contrasting color, on a bird's face.
Feather One of the growths that form a bird's outer covering.
Flank The side of the body, under the folded wing.
Hollow Bones Many parts of a bird's skeleton are like this, with struts inside for strength.
Mantle The forward part of the upper side, just below the back of the neck.
Plumage A bird's whole coat of feathers, with its colors and patterns.
Throat The front of the neck, under the bill.
Webbed Feet Toes joined by skin, a help in swimming.
Wing Bar A stripe formed by the tips of certain feathers; they often come in pairs.
Wings The paired forelimbs whose feathers give lift and thrust.

Nests, Eggs and Bird Life 16

Binoculars Field glasses: a tool that makes a faraway bird look close.
Birdhouse A shelter that people build and hang outside so that a pair of small birds can move in.
Birdwatcher A person who observes birds as a hobby or for science.
Chirp A brief, bright note, the kind a nestling makes when it begs for food.
Dawn Chorus The burst of singing that birds make as a new day begins.
Egg A female bird lays it; a condor lays just one at a time.
Feeder A device placed outdoors to offer seed to wild birds.
Fledgling A young bird that is just growing able to fly.
Flock Birds on the move or feeding as one crowd.
Flyway A route in the sky that great numbers of birds follow on their seasonal journeys.
Hatch To break out of the shell.
Migrate To make the twice-yearly trip between breeding and wintering grounds.
Nest The spot where a bird lays eggs and brings up its young.
Song The more complex, tuneful sounds a bird makes, as opposed to its calls.
Trill A quick run of repeated notes.
Twigs Small sticks that many birds weave together.

How this list was compiled: 92 bird words in six lists: backyard birds, birds of prey, owls, water birds, parts of a bird, and nests, eggs and bird life. Facts in the clues were checked on October 3, 2026 against each bird's English Wikipedia article and its Glossary of bird terms (https://en.wikipedia.org/, CC BY-SA 4.0); spellings against English Wiktionary. Licence: own work

How it works

This bird word search printable opens on 16 of 24 bird favorites. 92 words fill 6 lists: backyard birds, birds of prey, owls, water birds, parts of a bird, and nests, eggs and bird life.

Read the full guide

Owl word search printable from the Owls list

Pick Owls under Start from a list for 16 words: nine kinds, from Barn Owl and Snowy Owl to Elf Owl and Eagle Owl, plus Owlet, Hoot, Pellet, Roost, Nocturnal, Facial Disc and Silent Flight. Each kind hides as one run, such as BARNOWL.

Backyard birds, raptors and water birds

Backyard Birds holds 16 names, such as Cardinal, Chickadee and Towhee. Birds of Prey has 14 words and Water Birds 16. Easy Bird holds 32 short words, none over 5 letters; Hard Bird holds 26, up to Secretarybird and Red-Tailed Hawk.

Show clues, not words (in More options) lists "A wader named for its extremely long legs" in place of Stilt.
Mantle, Flank, Eye Ring and Wing Bar are field-guide words; pupils can point to each on a bird photo.

Questions and answers

Which owls are in the word find?

Nine: Barn Owl, Snowy Owl, Great Horned Owl, Screech Owl, Barred Owl, Burrowing Owl, Elf Owl, Tawny Owl and Eagle Owl. The Elf Owl's clue calls it roughly sparrow-sized.

Which backyard birds are on the list?

Backyard Birds names 16: Robin, Cardinal, Blue Jay, Sparrow, Chickadee, Wren, Dove, Crow, Towhee, Blackbird, Catbird, Phoebe, Flicker, Bunting, Kinglet and Vireo.

Why are Owl and Eagle not hidden by themselves?

OWL is the end of BARNOWL and eight more names, and EAGLE is the end of BALDEAGLE, so a grid could show either where the key does not. Owl by itself is in the animal word search.

Are penguins on this list?

No. Penguins have a page of their own, the penguin word search, with their species, body, behavior and Antarctica.

All 92 words

Backyard Birds 16

Birds of Prey 14

Owls 16

Water Birds 16

Parts of a Bird 14

Nests, Eggs and Bird Life 16

How it works

Owl word search printable from the Owls list

Backyard birds, raptors and water birds

Questions and answers

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