| 100% | SCREECH | 7 | With 36-Down, nocturnal bird with a shrill cry |
| 57% | MACAW | 5 | Bird with a harsh cry |
| 57% | LOON | 4 | Bird with a mournful cry |
| 57% | SHRIKE | 6 | Bird with a shrill call |
| 57% | SHRIKES | 7 | Birds with a shrill call |
| 55% | HOOTOWL | 7 | Nocturnal bird with a loud call (2 wds.) |
| 55% | LAUGHINGGULL | 12 | Seashore bird with a distinctive cry |
| 55% | LOON | 4 | Lake bird with a haunting cry |
| 54% | OWL | 3 | Nocturnal bird with a flat face and big eyes |
| 54% | OWL | 3 | Nocturnal bird with a broad head and big eyes |
| 54% | RAIL | 4 | Long-toed bird with a harsh cry |
| 53% | IBIS | 4 | Bird with a down-curved bill |
| 52% | IBIS | 4 | Bird with a long, down-curved beak |
| 51% | NIGHTJAR | 8 | Nocturnal bird with large eyes named after its discordant cry |
| 51% | NIGHTJAR | 8 | Nocturnal bird with large eyes, named after its discordant cry |
| 50% | MOREPORK | 8 | New Zealand bird with a meat-requesting cry |
| 50% | IBIS | 4 | Wading bird with a long down-curved bill |
| 50% | OHME | 4 | With 34 Down, a worried cry |
| 50% | IBIS | 4 | Large wading bird with a long down-curved bill |
| 47% | OWL | 3 | Nocturnal bird of prey with large eyes and a short neck |
| 47% | THANTORECEIVE | 13 | With 2 Down, 36 Across & 43 Across, a Christmas-style maxim |
| 47% | MARMOT | 6 | Tubby rodent with shrill cry, such as a woodchuck |
| 46% | LET | 3 | With 89-Down, a casino cry |
| 45% | PRAIRIE | 7 | With 122-Down, rodent with a barklike cry |
| 43% | PLANETARY | 9 | With 36-Down, astronomical rarity ... or a hint to the circled letters |
| 43% | DUNLIN | 6 | Small wading bird with a slightly down-curved bill that breeds in the uplands of Scotland, Wales and England |
| 43% | OWL | 3 | "As wise as an ___," phrase for a wise person with a nocturnal bird in it |
| 42% | BLACK | 5 | With 5-Down, a piano has 36 of these |
| 42% | OWL | 3 | Nocturnal bird with large eyes |
| 42% | OWL | 3 | Nocturnal bird with big eyes |