Wingspan Bird Card Tier List – Version 2.5.1
This is our Wingspan Bird Card Tier List covering all expansions. What’s changed from the previous version? Check out the updates here: Wingspan Bird Card Tier List Update
WINGSEARCH is a great companion page to go with this list, as it will give you all of the card details.
God Tier | Tier 0 | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Underused Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common Raven | Abbot's Booby | American Crow | American Avocet | Acorn Woodpecker |
| Chihuahuan Raven | Atlantic Puffin | American Redstart | American Bittern | American Goldfinch |
| Franklin's Gull | Audouin's Gull | American Robin | American Coot | American Kestrel |
| Killdeer | Barn Swallow | American Woodcock | Ash Throated Flycatcher | American Oystercatcher |
| Bonelli's Eagle | Baya Weaver | Anna's Hummingbird | Asian Emerald Dove | American White Pelican |
| Eastern Imperial Eagle | Black Headed Gull | Asian Koel | Australian Magpie | Anhinga |
| Wood Duck | Black Throated Diver | Australian Ibis | Barrow's Goldeneye | Australasian Pipit |
| Blue Rock-Thrush | Australian Raven | Belted Kingfisher | Australasian Shoveler | |
| Brambling | Azure Tit | Black Drongo | Australian Owlet Nightjar | |
| Chipping Sparrow | Baird's Sparrow | Black Swan | Australian Shelduck | |
| Common Yellowthroat | Bald Eagle | Bobolink | Australian Zebra Finch | |
| Eurasian Coot | Baltimore Oriole | Brewer's Blackbird | Barn Owl | |
| Great Crested Grebe | Bell's Vireo | Broad Winged Hawk | Barred Owl | |
| Great Indian Bustard | Black Chinned Hummingbird | Bronzed Cowbird | Bearded Reedling | |
| Mandarin Duck | Black Crowned Night Heron | Brown Headed Cowbird | Bewick's Wren | |
| Mourning Dove | Black Noddy | Budgerigar | Black Bellied Whistling Duck | |
| North Island Brown Kiwi | Black Redstart | Bullfinch | Black Billed Magpie | |
| Pied Billed Grebe | Black Tailed Godwit | Canada Goose | Black Necked Stilt | |
| Purple Martin | Black Tern | Carolina Wren | Black Shouldered Kite | |
| Red Avadavat | Black-Naped Oriole | Cedar Waxwing | Black Skimmer | |
| Red Breasted Merganser | Blue Grey Gnatcatcher | Chestnut Collared Longspur | Black Stork | |
| Rose Ringed Parakeet | Blue Winged Warbler | Coal Tit | Black Vulture | |
| Rosy Starling | Bluethroat | Cockatiel | Black Woodpecker | |
| Ruddy Duck | Blyth's Hornbill | Common Buzzard | Blue Grosbeak | |
| Ruddy Shelduck | Bushtit | Common Goldeneye | Blue Jay | |
| Ruff | Carolina Chickadee | Common Kingfisher | Brahminy Kite | |
| Scaly-Breasted Munia | Cassin's Finch | Common Moorhen | Brant | |
| Snow Bunting | Cassin's Sparrow | Common Starling | Brolga | |
| Spangled Drongo | Cerulean Warbler | Common Swift | Brown Falcon | |
| Spotted Dove | Common Chaffinch | Coppersmith Barbet | Brown Pelican | |
| Sri Lanka Blue-Magpie | Common Cuckoo | Count Raggi's Bird of Paradise | Brown Shrike | |
| Twite | Common Grackle | Crested Ibis | Burrowing Owl | |
| White Stork | Common Iora | Crimson Chat | California Condor | |
| White Throated Dipper | Common Myna | Dark Eyed Junco | Canvasback | |
| California Quail | Common Nightingale | Desert Finch | Cetti's Warbler | |
| Rainbow Lorikeet | Desert Wheatear | Downy Woodpecker | Chimney Swift | |
| Eastern Phoebe | Dunnock | Clark's Nutcracker | ||
| Eurasian Nutcracker | Eastern Bluebird | Common Blackbird | ||
| European Goldfinch | Eastern Screech Owl | Common Green Magpie | ||
| Fish Crow | Eurasian Collared Dove | Common Little Bittern | ||
| Golden Eagle | Eurasian Eagle-Owl | Common Loon | ||
| Golden Pheasant | Eurasian Golden Oriole | Common Merganser | ||
| Graceful Prina | Eurasian Hobby | Common Nighthawk | ||
| Grandala | Eurasian Hoopoe | Common Sandpiper | ||
| Grasshopper Sparrow | Eurasian Kestrel | Common Tailorbird | ||
| Gray Catbird | Eurasian Magpie | Common Teal | ||
| Great Blue Heron | Eurasian Marsh-Harrier | Cooper's Hawk | ||
| Great Egret | Eurasian Nuthatch | Corsican Nuthatch | ||
| Great Hornbill | European Robin | Crested Lark | ||
| Great Horned Owl | Gould's Finch | Crested Pigeon | ||
| Greater Roadrunner | Gray Wagtail | Dickcissel | ||
| Green Pheasant | Great Spotted Woodpecker | Double Crested Cormorant | ||
| Grey Teal | Great Tit | Eastern Kingbird | ||
| Himalayan Monal | Greater Adjutant | Eastern Rosella | ||
| Hooded Warbler | Greater Prairie Chicken | Eastern Whipbird | ||
| House Crow | Green Bee-Eater | Eleonora's Falcon | ||
| House Finch | Green Heron | Emu | ||
| House Sparrow | Grey Headed Mannikin | Eurasian Green Woodpecker | ||
| Ibisbill | Grey Heron | Eurasian Jay | ||
| Indian Peafowl | Greylag Goose | Eurasian Tree Sparrow | ||
| Indigo Bunting | Hermit Thrush | Eurasian Treecreeper | ||
| Kakapo | Hooded Crow | European Honey Buzzard | ||
| Large-Billed Crow | Hooded Merganser | European Roller | ||
| Laughing Kookaburra | House Wren | European Turtle Dove | ||
| Lesser Frigatebird | Inca Dove | Ferruginous Hawk | ||
| Lesser Whitethroat | Juniper Titmouse | Fire-Fronted Serin | ||
| Little Penguin | Kea | Forest Owlet | ||
| Little Ringed Plover | King Rail | Goldcrest | ||
| Magpie Lark | Lazuli Bunting | Great Cormorant | ||
| Mallard | Lewin's Honeyeater | Great Crested Flycatcher | ||
| Many Colored Fruit Dove | Little Egret | Greater Flamingo | ||
| Masked Lapwing | Little Grebe | Green Pygmy Goose | ||
| Mountain Chickadee | Little Pied Cormorant | Grey Shrikethrush | ||
| Northern Flicker | Long Tailed Tit | Hawfinch | ||
| Northern Goshawk | Malleefowl | Horned Lark | ||
| Northern Mockingbird | Mississippi Kite | Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo | ||
| Oriental Bay-Owl | Mountain Bluebird | Horsfield's Bushlark | ||
| Painted Whitestart | Northern Bobwhite | Indian Vulture | ||
| Peaceful Dove | Northern Cardinal | Kelp Gull | ||
| Pheasant Coucal | Northern Shoveler | Kereru | ||
| Pileated Woodpecker | Olive-Backed Sunbird | Korimako | ||
| Prothonotary Warbler | Orange Footed Scrubfowl | Lincoln's Sparrow | ||
| Red Breasted Nuthatch | Oriental Magpie-Robin | Little Bustard | ||
| Red Junglefowl | Painted Bunting | Little Owl | ||
| Red Knot | Philippine Eagle | Loggerhead Shrike | ||
| Red Legged Partridge | Plains Wanderer | Major Mitchell's Cockatoo | ||
| Red Winged Black Bird | Plumbeous Redstart | Mistletoebird | ||
| Rhinoceros Auklet | Princess Stephanie's Astrapia | Montagu's Harrier | ||
| Rook | Purple Gallinule | Musk Duck | ||
| Roseate Spoonbill | Red Backed Fairywren | Northern Gannet | ||
| Ruby Throated Hummingbird | Red Cockaded Woodpecker | Northern Harrier | ||
| Rufous Owl | Red Eyed Vireo | Pacific Black Duck | ||
| Savi's Warbler | Red Headed Woodpecker | Parrot Crossbill | ||
| Scaled Quail | Red Winged Parrot | Peregrine Falcon | ||
| Scissor Tailed Flycatcher | Red-Crowned Crane | Pesquet's Parrot | ||
| Silvereye | Red-Wattled Lapwing | Pine Siskin | ||
| Small Minivet | Regent Bowerbird | Pink Eared Duck | ||
| Smew | Ring Billed Gull | Pukeko | ||
| Spotted Owl | Rock Pigeon | Purple Heron | ||
| Stubble Quail | Rose Breasted Grosbeak | Pygmy Nuthatch | ||
| Trumpeter Finch | Ruby Crowned Kinglet | Red Backed Shrike | ||
| Trumpeter Swan | Sandhill Crane | Red Bellied Woodpecker | ||
| Violet Cuckoo | Sarus Crane | Red Capped Robin | ||
| Wedge Tailed Eagle | Savannah Sparrow | Red Crossbill | ||
| White Backed Woodpecker | Say's Phoebe | Red Kite | ||
| White Bellied Sea Eagle | Short Toed Treecreeper | Red Necked Avocet | ||
| White Breasted Nuthatch | Snowy Egret | Red Shouldered Hawk | ||
| White Faced Ibis | Southern Cassowary | Red Tailed Hawk | ||
| White Throated Swift | Splendid Fairywren | Red Wattlebird | ||
| White-Headed Duck | Spotted Towhee | Red-Vented Bulbul | ||
| Whooping Crane | Sprague's Pipit | Royal Spoonbill | ||
| Wild Turkey | Tawny Frogmouth | Rufous Banded Honeyeater | ||
| Willow Tit | Tree Swallow | Rufous Night Heron | ||
| Woodstork | Tufted Titmouse | Satyr Tragopan | ||
| Wrybill | Verditer Flycatcher | Snowy Owl | ||
| Sacred Kingfisher | Violet Green Swallow | Song Sparrow | ||
| Moltoni's Warbler | Western Meadowlark | South Island Robin | ||
| Yellowhammer | Western Tanager | Spoon-Billed Sandpiper | ||
| White Wagtail | White Breasted Woodswallow | Spotless Crake | ||
| Grey Butcherbird | White-Crested Laughingthrush | Squacco Heron | ||
| Galah | White-Throated Kingfisher | Sri Lanka Frogmouth | ||
| Maned Duck | Willet | Stellar's Jay | ||
| Common Chiffchaff | Wilson's Storm Petrel | Stork-Billed Kingfisher | ||
| Mute Swan | Yellow Billed Cuckoo | Sulphur Crested Cockatoo | ||
| Yellow Headed Blackbird | Superb Lyrebird | |||
| European Bee Eater | Swainson's Hawk | |||
| Willie Wagtail | Thekla's Lark | |||
| Noisy Miner | Tui | |||
| Clark's Grebe | Turkey Vulture | |||
| Forster's Tern | Vaux's Swift | |||
| Osprey | Welcome Swallow | |||
| Spotted Sandpiper | White Crowned Sparrow | |||
| Wilson's Snipe | White Faced Heron | |||
| Carrion Crow | White-Browed Tit-Warbler | |||
| Eurasian Sparrowhawk | Yellow Bellied Sapsucker | |||
| Griffon Vulture | Yellow Bittern | |||
| Australian Reed Warbler | Yellow Breasted Chat | |||
| Golden Headed Cisticola | Yellow Rumped Warbler | |||
| Grey Warbler | New Holland Honeyeater | |||
| Zebra Dove | ||||
Wingspan Tier List Revision History
Version 1.1
Version 1.2
Version 1.3
Version 2.0
Version 2.1
Version 2.2
Version 2.3
Version 2.4
Version 2.5
Version 2.5.1
Tier List Definitions
God Tier: Traditionally, these cards can facilitate a runaway win on their own (The Power 4). As the metagame evolves and more expansions are released, this tier may have to grow to accommodate cards such as Bonelli’s Eagle and Eastern Imperial Eagle, which facilitate huge point swings without the need for food and can be played off of the free actions granted by birds such as Yellowhammer and the birds like it.
Tier 0: Could be considered “The Best of Tier 1” or “The Bottom of God Tier”. More effective, efficient, and/or game shaping than Tier 1 cards but not necessarily as impactful as God Tier birds.
Tier 1: Effective, efficient, and game shaping cards. These are among the best cards in the game and represent some of the best general qualities and/or powers. These will be the bread and butter of the best games.
Tier 2: Cards that have desirable general qualities and/or powers that can be useful in the right circumstances. These cards could be a key component of a combo or engine and might not otherwise be very effective on their own. Canada Goose is a good example of this type of card.
Underused Tier: These are cards that don’t see play at our table often due to “better” options being available most of the time. Being in this Tier doesn’t necessarily mean that a card is bad. It just means that they may consistently lose out in head-to-head decisions made between one card or another. These end up being prime Tuck/Discard fodder.
Check Out These Links for More Information
Advanced Wingspan Strategy Guide :
- Understanding The North American (Core Set) Metagame
- Understanding The European Expansion Metagame
- Understanding The Oceania Expansion Metagame
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Feels like the common moorhen should be way higher on the list. I’d put it tier 1, since it’s somewhat dependent on getting other decent water birds, and having a decent food supply (since each bird you play with it essentially has its cost increased by 1), but for a couple of the best games I’ve had, the moorhen was super important
Hello sharpChed,
I’m glad you’ve had some good games with the Moorhen. In my personal experience, and in talking with other players in the competitive tournament community, the Moorhen just doesn’t make much of an impact and it doesn’t produce high scoring games. It’s expensive for a three point bird. It does have a great six egg star nest but that alone doesn’t convince people to play it. It can be pretty difficult for a wetland engine to produce the extra food for the Moorhen’s power without also handing some out to your opponents, which is a two edged sword.
Would love to see some bird rankings within a specific category/for a specific purpose. Top 7 late game point bombs and why. Best early forest birds. Top pink powers.
Grey/gray is spelled 2 different ways throughout the list. Was this intentional?
A quick look at Wingsearch reveals that there are seven Grey birds and 3 Gray birds.
Thanks for your interesting bloc. Where can I read your criteria for each of the tiers? Also would be helpful to show which pack the birds belong to?
Hello Dalene,
Thanks for checking out the list. Wingsearch makes a great companion for this list, as it has all the card detail you could be looking for.
Curious why Sandhill Crane and Canada Goose are not in the higher tiers? They are good scoring point birds?
These birds can certainly be powerhouses when they have the correct support. That support often takes specific cards and specific timing to make a significant impact. It’s been my experience that the more support or micromanagement a bird needs, the less powerful it becomes in practice. The Canada Goose archetype of birds can have high highs and low lows in practice.
Check out my Canada Goose/Sandhill Crane playlist on YouTube to see these birds in action.
Wondering about the criteria that you used to organised the bird tiers? I can see the definitions, but would love to read some more detail about criteria?
Hello Dalene,
The tier definitions pretty much summarize my ranking criteria. If you read through all of the tier list revision history posts, you will see more of my thought process for moving birds up or down. You might also want to check out this article I did a while back about Objectively Ranking Birds.
The more I’ve played Oceania (not familiar with Asia birds), the more I’ve found wood duck to be absolutely god-tier and teal powers that lay eggs or play birds to be tier-0.
Yeah, nectar really elevates Wood Duck to the next level. Those teal powers feel like they get a boost as well.
I’m not getting the rating for the Peregrine Falcon. It has the same brown power as the Golden Eagle and the Great Horned Owl. Plus, it’s cheaper than those cards.
8 Point birds can often be more valuable than 5-point birds with an average power. Especially if the 8 point bird also has an average or better power on top of its point value.
I am the renegade who loves the horned lark…perfect card to unload trash… if you don’t have trash when prompted so what, just pass. If played early on a for sure 9 to 10 pointer. My best score ever of 184 he was part of the mix, gained over 10 points with him that game. Everyone is wrong about this card. 🙂
Yeah, I think Horned Lark has gotten a bad rap in the past. It’s not terrible.
A lot of these ratings are completely expected (looking at you Ravens) and others are pretty surprising. I haven’t had much of a chance to play with the Asia expansion birds so maybe they change how the game is played but at least in the online adaptation tuck birds are extremely dominant right now; 4 birds that come to mind in particular are the Galah, Common Chiffchaff, Maned Duck & Mute Swan. I noticed you placed all of them in Tier 1, is that because using them generally requires you to fully commit to tucking?
These “mass tuckers” as I call them do function best when you fully commit to a wetland tucking engine. Wetland tucking strategies do fall off a bit in effectiveness in the Oceania metagame, primarily due to the importance of nectar and the overall strength of Forest strategies.
I’ve been looking for some suggestions for a “cube” list for Wingspan. We’re playing with all of the expansions meaning there is lots of bloat. I was looking to see what cards people suggest to remove in order to have a more consistent power level from game to game and player to player.
I personally find that the more cards that are added, the better. I don’t want to see and use the same birds every time. Some of the most satisfying games is where you make good use of a bird that is generally under rated or bad. Plus the more cards there are, the less often the dominating God tier birds show up.
I’ve thought about making a cube list myself but I’ve never gotten around to it. One important thing to consider is that bonus cards and round goals will be heavily impacted by removing certain birds. I think this is the main reason I haven’t really come up with a list. I would start by removing some of the birds from the Underused Tier of this list.
Would be awesome if you made each bird in this list link to its corresponding page on wingsearch
That would be a lot of work for us to do, especially when it comes time to update the list and move things around. The WordPress code looks pretty messy. You could just have Wingsearch open in another window and look up the birds yourself.
I was surprised to see Australian Owlet Nightjar ranked so low. Is it because it’s value is predicated on getting it out early in the game and with high player counts? I just had dominating game where I made it my first Wetland bird and it really pulled it’s weight. Curious on your thoughts on that and the birds with similar “Gain a food when someone else gains food” I’m am also aware that the opposing players can try to make sure it activates as little as possible so that also can be a determining factor. That being said, does the tier list assume games will consist of 5 extremely high skilled players?
This list is based on my experience playing competitively with the players on the Wingspan Tournament Discord. As with any card, the Owlet can have its moments to shine. More often than not though, it doesn’t seem to make much of an impact. This is more true in the Oceania metagame where food is much more prevalent in general.