Uncommon Birds in Northern Ireland
Our list for Northern Ireland has 76 uncommon birds recorded regularly there: 18 residents, 12 summer visitors, 14 winter visitors, 30 passage migrants and 2 scarce visitors
Most likely in October
GBIF · Oct
Share of all bird records in Northern Ireland in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 76, most common first
Curlew SandpiperCalidris ferrugineaPassage migrantUncommon18–23 cmRegularly Sep
SmewMergellus albellusPassage migrantUncommon38–44 cmRegularly Feb
Little GullHydrocoloeus minutusPassage migrantUncommon25–30 cmRegularly May–Dec
Bohemian WaxwingBombycilla garrulusPassage migrantUncommon19–23 cmRegularly Dec
Carrion CrowCorvus coroneWinter visitorUncommon45–47 cmRegularly Aug–May
Northern PintailAnas acutaWinter visitorUncommon59–76 cmRegularly Oct–Mar
Sabine's GullXema sabiniPassage migrantUncommon27–33 cmRegularly Aug–Sep
Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreusPassage migrantUncommon62–68 cmRegularly Jan–Mar
Horned GrebePodiceps auritusPassage migrantUncommon31–38 cmRegularly Nov–Dec
Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostraSummer visitorUncommon15–17 cmRegularly Feb–Dec
WhinchatSaxicola rubetraPassage migrantUncommon12–14 cmRegularly Apr–Jun
Common MerganserMergus merganserPassage migrantUncommon58–68 cmRegularly Nov–May
Western Marsh-harrierCircus aeruginosusResidentUncommon48–56 cmRegularly May–Nov
Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphiaPassage migrantUncommon28–38 cmRegularly Dec–Aug
DipperCinclus cinclusSummer visitorUncommon17–20 cmRegularly Mar–Jan
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesWinter visitorUncommon52–60 cmRegularly Nov–Mar
YellowhammerEmberiza citrinellaSummer visitorUncommon16–17 cmRegularly Jan–Aug
Short-eared OwlAsio flammeusResidentUncommon34–43 cmRegularly Oct
Black RedstartPhoenicurus ochrurosPassage migrantUncommon13–15 cmRegularly May
Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicusPassage migrantUncommon15–16 cmRegularly Sep–Oct
Arctic LoonGavia arcticaPassage migrantUncommon58–77 cmRegularly Oct–Dec
Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaPassage migrantUncommon27–30 cmRegularly Sep–Apr
Ring OuzelTurdus torquatusPassage migrantUncommon23–24 cmRegularly Apr
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