A Birder's Guide to Super Bowl 2026: What is a Seahawk?
For the second straight year and 12th time this century, a bird will be represented in the Super Bowl when the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots this Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET (NBC/Peacock). And even the Super Bowl MVP favorite can't get enough bird content leading up to Super Bowl 2026.
To celebrate the occasion, we put together our birder's guide for Super Bowl 2026 to answer everything that football fans, bettors, and birders may be asking ahead of the Big Game, including perhaps the biggest question of all: what exactly is a Seahawk? The answer is a little more complicated than you may think.
🟢 What is a Seahawk?
Several bird species have been called “sea hawks” over time, but the Seattle Seahawks are referencing the osprey (Pandion haliaetus). Ospreys aren't technically hawks, though they do live near the sea, as well as other bodies of water around the world.
You may have spotted one before, hovering over the water before splashing down and emerging with a fish. Ospreys are raptors, meaning they are carnivorous birds with sharp talons and hooked beaks. They have dark, glossy backs and white bellies, sometimes streaked with brown, and their faces are unmistakable - a white head with a bold, dark eyestripe.
🦅 What is the Seahawks logo?
The Seahawks logo is a raptor, but it doesn’t resemble an osprey. That’s because the logo is inspired by a Kwakwaka'wakw transformation mask from British Columbia, which features an eagle.
As a result, the logo most closely resembles another beloved bird - the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Bald eagles are large, powerful raptors with dark bodies, bright white heads and tails, and large yellow beaks. While they are often found near water, including the sea, they aren’t hawks either.
🆚 Who would win in a fight?
Ironically, bald eagles are known to harass and even attack ospreys - stealing their fish in midair, raiding their nests, and even fighting with adult birds. So in a contest between the Seahawks' logo bird and mascot, the eagle-inspired logo would come out on top.
🪶 What is the Seahawks’ live mascot?
In another twist, the Seattle Seahawks’ live mascot, named Taima, is neither an osprey nor a bald eagle. Though she resembles an osprey, Taima is actually an African augur buzzard, also known as an augur hawk.
Unlike ospreys, augur buzzards are true hawks, though they don’t typically live near the sea. They prefer mountainous and open regions in eastern and southwestern Africa. The Seahawks use an augur buzzard as a live mascot because it is illegal to use native ospreys for commercial purposes in the United States. Taima’s osprey-like appearance and trainability make her a fun and practical choice.
🌉 Birding around Levi's Stadium
Super Bowl 60 will be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., a region with abundant birdlife and several nearby birding hotspots. If you have time around the Big Game, a visit to Ulistac Natural Area may yield both unique local species and familiar favorites. Located less than 10 minutes from Levi’s Stadium, the site has recorded over 150 bird species in the past year.
Another prime hotspot near the stadium is the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, which offers miles of trails and multiple areas to explore, including Newark Slough Trail, Inner Bair Island, and the Tidelands Trail Loop. The San Francisco Bay Trail also passes through the refuge. Across these locations, more than 120 bird species have been reported.
🏟️ Birding from Levi's Stadium
If you don’t have time to explore nearby trails, what birds might you see during the game itself? Levi’s Stadium is an open-air venue, increasing the chances of spotting birds during Super Bowl Sunday. The stadium also features a garden that produces a variety of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, attracting additional wildlife.
In 2015, an American crow famously interrupted a camera feed inside Levi’s Stadium, staring into the lens and cawing. A crow sighting is certainly possible this year, along with classic city species like rock pigeons and other ground-dwelling birds including dark-eyed juncos, house sparrows, and golden-crowned sparrows.
With some luck, flyover species may be spotted as well. Gulls are likely candidates, including California gulls, western gulls, and ring-billed gulls. Larger birds such as red-shouldered hawks, turkey vultures, and even Canada geese may pass overhead for fans who keep an eye on the skies.
📲 What are the best birding apps in 2026?
While birders use a variety of apps, two have emerged as fan favorites for casual and serial bird-watchers alike: eBird and Merlin.
eBird is a community science app created by Cornell Lab to help track bird sightings across the world. Merlin, also developed by Cornell Lab, is an AI-powered audio app that can identify a bird call with just a few notes. The latter has become so popular that even Seahawks QB Sam Darnold can't resist it.
Whether you’re tracking your Super Bowl predictions or tracking your life list, Super Bowl Sunday offers something for everyone. Take a moment to look around the stadium and up at the skies, and enjoy the wildlife that we share the world with. The Seahawks may be a little unclear on their species, but the birds around Levi’s Stadium are very real and very worth watching.
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