Which Is the Most Common Bird in the World?

Chickens are kept on every inhabited continent, and there are more than 20 billion alive at any moment, far more than any other bird. They descend mainly from the red junglefowl of Southeast Asia and were domesticated thousands of years ago. A 2021 study estimated that there are about 50 billion wild birds on Earth. The same study ranked the house sparrow as the most abundant wild bird, with around 1.6 billion individuals. Africa's red-billed quelea is also often cited as the most numerous wild bird, with flocks containing millions.