Common Birds in Nova Scotia
Our list for Nova Scotia has 77 common birds recorded regularly there: 23 residents, 30 summer visitors, 18 winter visitors and 6 passage migrants
Most likely in October
GBIF · Oct
Share of all bird records in Nova Scotia in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 77, most common first
Red-breasted MerganserMergus serratorWinter visitorCommon52–58 cmRegularly Oct–May
Downy WoodpeckerDryobates pubescensResidentCommon14–18 cmRecorded all year
GoldeneyeBucephala clangulaWinter visitorCommon40–51 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Common PheasantPhasianus colchicusResidentCommon50–90 cmRecorded all year
Common LoonGavia immerResidentCommon66–91 cmRecorded all year
Alder FlycatcherEmpidonax alnorumSummer visitorCommon13–17 cmRegularly May–Aug
Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorumSummer visitorCommon15–18 cmRecorded all year
Ruby-throated HummingbirdArchilochus colubrisSummer visitorCommon7–9 cmRegularly May–Sep
OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapillaSummer visitorCommon12–15 cmRegularly May–Sep
Great Blue HeronArdea herodiasSummer visitorCommon91–137 cmRegularly Apr–Dec
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesWinter visitorCommon52–60 cmRegularly Nov–May
Semipalmated PloverCharadrius semipalmatusPassage migrantCommon17–19 cmRegularly Jul–Oct
Semipalmated SandpiperCalidris pusillaPassage migrantCommon15–18 cmRegularly Jul–Oct
White-breasted NuthatchSitta carolinensisResidentCommon13–14 cmRecorded all year
EiderSomateria mollissimaResidentCommon50–71 cmRecorded all year
Least SandpiperCalidris minutillaPassage migrantCommon13–15 cmRegularly Jul–Sep
Long-tailed DuckClangula hyemalisWinter visitorCommon37–60 cmRegularly Oct–Apr
Hairy WoodpeckerLeuconotopicus villosusResidentCommon18–26 cmRecorded all year
Greater YellowlegsTringa melanoleucaPassage migrantCommon29–40 cmRegularly Apr–Nov
Hermit ThrushCatharus guttatusSummer visitorCommon14–18 cmRegularly Apr–Nov
Black-throated Green WarblerSetophaga virensSummer visitorCommon11–12 cmRegularly May–Oct
Magnolia WarblerSetophaga magnoliaSummer visitorCommon11–13 cmRegularly May–Sep
Barn SwallowHirundo rusticaSummer visitorCommon17–19 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
Data: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made