Birds in Prince Edward Island
Our list for Prince Edward Island has 163 bird species recorded regularly there: 28 residents, 55 summer visitors, 27 winter visitors, 46 passage migrants and 7 scarce visitors
The list comes from 279,000 birdwatchers' records from 2019–2024, shared through the eBird Observation Dataset on GBIF. A bird is listed when it was recorded in at least 3 of the 6 years and has a Birdfact species guide, so more species occur here than are listed; the months show when it is recorded most years.
- Species on our list
- 163
- In October
- 96
- Common
- 78
- Busiest month
- May
What's special about Prince Edward Island
vs CanadaThe birds recorded far more often here than across Canada, as a share of all bird records. These are the ones Prince Edward Island is worth visiting for.
Great Cormorant12×Resident · 0.31% of records here, 0.02% across Canada
Northern Gannet12×Summer visitor · 1.2% of records here, 0.09% across Canada
Piping Plover11×Summer visitor · 0.11% of records here, 0.01% across Canada
Ruddy Turnstone6.6×Passage migrant · 0.33% of records here, 0.05% across Canada
Willet6.3×Summer visitor · 0.46% of records here, 0.07% across Canada
Sanderling5.9×Passage migrant · 0.46% of records here, 0.08% across Canada
Common Tern5.8×Summer visitor · 1.2% of records here, 0.21% across Canada
White-rumped Sandpiper5.3×Passage migrant · 0.22% of records here, 0.04% across Canada
This month: October
GBIF · OctMost likely
Arriving now
Red-winged BlackbirdSummer visitorSep 0.14% → Oct 0.41%
Long-tailed DuckWinter visitorSep 0.01% → Oct 0.31%
Common MerganserWinter visitorSep 0.02% → Oct 0.12%
Fox SparrowPassage migrantSep 0.01% → Oct 0.12%
American Tree SparrowWinter visitorSep 0.00% → Oct 0.08%
Lapland LongspurPassage migrantSep 0.01% → Oct 0.08%
Share of all bird records in Prince Edward Island in October, 2019–2024. “Arriving now” are the birds whose share rises most from last month. Each month links to that month’s page.
Near you this week
The birds most likely around your town or postcode right now, from the same records, for a square about 9 km across.
The bird calendar for Prince Edward Island
Month by monthWhen each bird is around, through the year. The darker the square, the closer that month is to the bird’s busiest. Filter by summer or winter visitors to see the seasons turn over.
| Bird | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Crow | ||||||||||||
| Blue Jay | ||||||||||||
| Song Sparrow | ||||||||||||
| American Robin | ||||||||||||
| Common Starling | ||||||||||||
| American Herring Gull | ||||||||||||
| Mourning Dove | ||||||||||||
| Ring-billed Gull | ||||||||||||
| Common Raven | ||||||||||||
| Common Grackle | ||||||||||||
| Canada Goose | ||||||||||||
| Great Black-backed Gull | ||||||||||||
| Bald Eagle | ||||||||||||
| Northern Flicker | ||||||||||||
| Great Blue Heron | ||||||||||||
| Red-winged Blackbird | ||||||||||||
| American Black Duck | ||||||||||||
| Rock Dove | ||||||||||||
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | ||||||||||||
| Common Yellowthroat | ||||||||||||
| Downy Woodpecker | ||||||||||||
| Northern Yellow Warbler | ||||||||||||
| Bonaparte's Gull | ||||||||||||
| Mallard | ||||||||||||
| Osprey | ||||||||||||
| Common Tern | ||||||||||||
| Northern Gannet | ||||||||||||
| Hairy Woodpecker | ||||||||||||
| Greater Yellowlegs | ||||||||||||
| Swamp Sparrow |
The year in Prince Edward Island
Records by month| January | 12,668 |
|---|---|
| February | 10,103 |
| March | 10,355 |
| April | 20,412 |
| May | 46,026 |
| June | 39,102 |
| July | 38,063 |
| August | 39,016 |
| September | 32,457 |
| October | 15,339 |
| November | 8,016 |
| December | 7,901 |
May has the most records (46,000). Records follow birdwatchers as well as birds: a busy month means more people out looking, as well as more birds passing through.
By family
12 of 28How common
More of Canada
- Birds in Quebec233 species
- Birds in Ontario220 species
- Birds in Nova Scotia219 species
- Birds in British Columbia213 species
All 163 birds, A to Z
- Alder Flycatcher
- American Bittern
- American Black Duck
- American Crow
- American Golden-Plover
- American Herring Gull
- American Redstart
- American Robin
- American Tree Sparrow
- Arctic Jaeger
- Arctic Tern
- Bald Eagle
- Baltimore Oriole
- Barn Swallow
- Barred Owl
- Bay-breasted Warbler
- Black Guillemot
- Black Tern
- Black-backed Woodpecker
- Black-billed Cuckoo
- Black-headed Gull
- Black-throated Blue Warbler
- Black-throated Green Warbler
- Blackpoll Warbler
Show all 163 birds
- Blue Jay
- Blue-headed Vireo
- Bobolink
- Bohemian Waxwing
- Bonaparte's Gull
- Brent Goose
- Broad-winged Hawk
- Cackling Goose
- Canada Goose
- Cape May Warbler
- Cattle Egret
- Cedar Waxwing
- Chestnut-sided Warbler
- Chipping Sparrow
- Common Grackle
- Common Loon
- Common Merganser
- Common Pheasant
- Common Raven
- Common Redpoll
- Common Starling
- Common Tern
- Common Yellowthroat
- Downy Woodpecker
- Dunlin
- Eastern Bluebird
- Eider
- Eurasian Teal
- Eurasian Wigeon
- Evening Grosbeak
- Fox Sparrow
- Franklin's Gull
- Gadwall
- Glaucous Gull
- Goldeneye
- Gray Catbird
- Great Black-backed Gull
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Cormorant
- Great Horned Owl
- Great White Egret
- Greater Scaup
- Greater Yellowlegs
- Grey Partridge
- Grey Plover
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Hermit Thrush
- Hooded Merganser
- Horned Grebe
- Horned Lark
- House Sparrow
- Hudsonian Godwit
- Iceland Gull
- Kittiwake
- Lapland Longspur
- Leach's Storm-petrel
- Least Flycatcher
- Least Sandpiper
- Lesser Black-backed Gull
- Lesser Yellowlegs
- Lincoln's Sparrow
- Little Auk
- Long-tailed Duck
- Magnolia Warbler
- Mallard
- Merlin
- Mourning Dove
- Mourning Warbler
- Nashville Warbler
- Northern Cardinal
- Northern Flicker
- Northern Gannet
- Northern Mockingbird
- Northern Pintail
- Northern Saw-whet Owl
- Northern Shoveler
- Northern Waterthrush
- Northern Yellow Warbler
- Osprey
- Ovenbird
- Palm Warbler
- Pectoral Sandpiper
- Peregrine Falcon
- Philadelphia Vireo
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Pine Siskin
- Piping Plover
- Pomarine Jaeger
- Purple Sandpiper
- Razorbill
- Red Crossbill
- Red Knot
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Red-breasted Merganser
- Red-necked Grebe
- Red-necked Phalarope
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Red-throated Loon
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Ring-billed Gull
- Rock Dove
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- Rough-legged Hawk
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Ruddy Duck
- Ruddy Turnstone
- Ruffed Grouse
- Sand Martin
- Sanderling
- Sandhill Crane
- Semipalmated Plover
- Semipalmated Sandpiper
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Short-billed Dowitcher
- Snow Bunting
- Snow Goose
- Snowy Owl
- Solitary Sandpiper
- Song Sparrow
- Stilt Sandpiper
- Surf Scoter
- Swainson's Thrush
- Swamp Sparrow
- Tennessee Warbler
- Turkey Vulture
- Veery
- Virginia Rail
- Whimbrel
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- White-crowned Sparrow
- White-rumped Sandpiper
- Willet
- Wilson's Phalarope
- Wood Duck
- Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
Questions
4What birds is Prince Edward Island known for?
Compared with the rest of Canada, Prince Edward Island stands out for Great Cormorant, Northern Gannet, Piping Plover and Ruddy Turnstone. Each is recorded at least 6.6 times as often here as across Canada, as a share of all bird records (2019–2024).
How many birds are on Birdfact's list for Prince Edward Island?
163 species, each recorded regularly in Prince Edward Island (in at least 3 of the 6 years 2019–2024): 28 residents, 55 summer visitors, 27 winter visitors, 46 passage migrants and 7 scarce visitors. The list includes only birds with a Birdfact species guide, so more species occur in Prince Edward Island, and rarer vagrants are not listed.
What birds can I see in Prince Edward Island in October?
96 species on our list for Prince Edward Island are recorded regularly in October. Of these, the most often recorded are American Crow, Blue Jay, American Herring Gull, Song Sparrow and Canada Goose.
What are the most common birds in Prince Edward Island?
Of the birds on our list, the ones birdwatchers record most often in Prince Edward Island are American Crow, Blue Jay, Song Sparrow, Common Starling and American Robin.
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







