I've been wondering lately just how many North American birds I've seen so I've finally succumbed to making a list. Considering I've only been across the pond three times and that none of the visits were birding trips I have to admit to being moderately pleased. I've seen most of the species I particularly wanted to and quite a few I didn't expect. Could do with a few more warblers, though.
I've cheated a bit by including North American species that I've only seen in the UK and not actually in America (asterisked on the list below). On the other hand, where species are resident on both sides of the Atlantic, I've only listed them here if I have seen them in North America.
Common Loon
Red-necked Grebe
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
* Pied-billed Grebe
Western Grebe
Brown Pelican
Great Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Anhinga
Northern Gannet
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Green Heron
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Wood Stork
Mute Swan
Trumpeter Swan
Canada Goose
Mallard
Black Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Blue-winged Teal
Green-winged Teal
* Canvasback
* Ring-necked Duck
* Lesser Scaup
Common Eider
Harlequin Duck
Long-tailed Duck
Black Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Surf Scoter
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Bald Eagle
Osprey
American Kestrel
Ring-necked Pheasant
Wild Turkey
American Coot
* Sora
* American Golden Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
* Greater Yellowlegs
* Lesser Yellowlegs
Spotted Sandpiper
* Upland Sandpiper
Ruddy Turnstone
Purple Sandpiper
Dunlin
* Pectoral Sandpiper
* White-rumped Sandpiper
* Baird’s Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
* Least Sandpiper
* Long-billed Dowitcher
* Buff-breasted Sandpiper
* Wilson’s Phalarope
Bonaparte’s Gull
* Franklin’s Gull
Laughing Gull
Mew Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Californian Gull
Herring Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Foster’s Tern
Black Tern
Pigeon Guillemot
* Ancient Murrelet
Cassin’s Auklet
Mourning Dove
Collared Dove
Feral Pigeon
Common Nighthawk
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker (both red- and yellow-shafted)
Pileated Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Red-eyed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
* Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Steller’s Jay
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Tree Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Tufted Titmouse
Black-capped Chickadee
Carolina Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Varied Thrush
American Robin
Wood Thrush
* Swainson’s Thrush
* Gray-cheeked Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
* American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
Tennessee Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
* Golden-winged Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend’s Warbler
Palm Warbler
* Blackpoll Warbler
Black and White Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Spotted Towhee
Eastern Towhee
Field Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco (both Slate-coloured & Oregon)
Eastern Meadowlark
Bobolink
Brown-headed Cowbird
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Baltimore Oriole
Evening Grosbeak
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
185 species
Note the lack of empidonax flycatchers. It's not that I haven't seen them; I just didn't feel up to IDing them!
Jason
Jason,
Pretty impressive list for just three trips. Took me several years to get to that level! And you're forgiven for the lack of empidonax flycatchers, they are a chore and unless, like me, you're really trying to do all you can to build up that list, they are barely worth the effort. Pretty birds, but difficult to separate!
I've been to America twice, got over 100 lifers each time, so my American list (which includes Mexico I should mention) is over 200, but I haven't yet totted up a full American list (including things I've seen both there and here), probably 250-ish.
Now if I do it on Jason's basis, including birds that occur in America that I've only seen over here - it'll probably lengthen considerably! After all, things like Lapwing and Fieldfare are on the American list, so they would have to go down too. Methinks it's cheating to include birds like that 
Michael