What is the best bird in North America?

Backyard regulars against continental heavyweights. Some of these you can see from a kitchen window; one of them nearly disappeared.

1. 1
   Bald Eagle

   The continent's national bird, back from 487 breeding pairs to more than 71,000.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Northern Cardinal

   The official state bird of seven states, and the most-chosen bird in the country.
   692pts
3. 3
   Ruby-throated Hummingbird

   A three-gram bird that crosses the Gulf of Mexico in a single flight.
   436pts
4. 4
   Wild Turkey

   Benjamin Franklin's preferred national bird, hunted to scarcity and reintroduced.
   435pts
5. 5
   Mallard

   The ancestor of almost every domestic duck and the default duck of the northern hemisphere.
   435pts
6. 6
   American Robin

   The lawn thrush whose first appearance is treated as the start of spring.
   435pts
7. 7
   Blue Jay

   A loud, intelligent corvid that mimics hawk calls to clear a feeder.
   356pts
8. 8
   Great Horned Owl

   The continent's most widespread owl, hunting everything up to skunks.
   356pts
9. 9
   American Goldfinch

   A seed-eating finch that moults from olive to bright yellow every spring.
   356pts
10. 10
    Sandhill Crane

    A metre-tall crane whose Nebraska migration gathers hundreds of thousands of birds.
    356pts
11. 11
    Pileated Woodpecker

    A crow-sized woodpecker that chisels rectangular holes into dead trees.
    356pts
12. 12
    California Condor

    Down to 22 individuals in 1987, now flying again over Arizona and California.
    261pts
13. 13
    Greater Roadrunner

    A ground cuckoo of the southwest that really does outrun people, and eats rattlesnakes.
    0pts
14. 14
    Snowy Owl

    An Arctic breeder that irrupts south into the northern states some winters.
    0pts
15. 15
    Common Loon

    The northern lake diver whose wail is the sound of Canadian and Minnesotan summers.
    0pts

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