Common Birds in Scotland
Our list for Scotland has 87 common birds recorded regularly there: 60 residents, 19 summer visitors and 8 winter visitors
Most likely in October
GBIF · Oct
Share of all bird records in Scotland in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 87, most common first
Common SnipeGallinago gallinagoResidentCommon25–27 cmRecorded all year
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensisSummer visitorCommon36–41 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Red-breasted MerganserMergus serratorResidentCommon52–58 cmRecorded all year
CuckooCuculus canorusSummer visitorCommon32–34 cmRegularly Apr–Jul
Eurasian SiskinSpinus spinusResidentCommon11–13 cmRecorded all year
KittiwakeRissa tridactylaSummer visitorCommon37–41 cmRecorded all year
Tufted DuckAythya fuligulaResidentCommon40–47 cmRecorded all year
Arctic TernSterna paradisaeaSummer visitorCommon33–39 cmRegularly May–Oct
Common MerganserMergus merganserResidentCommon58–68 cmRecorded all year
DunlinCalidris alpinaResidentCommon16–22 cmRecorded all year
Black GuillemotCepphus grylleResidentCommon30–32 cmRecorded all year
Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucosSummer visitorCommon18–20 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
RazorbillAlca tordaResidentCommon38–43 cmRecorded all year
Mistle ThrushTurdus viscivorusResidentCommon26–29 cmRecorded all year
Reed BuntingEmberiza schoeniclusResidentCommon14–16 cmRecorded all year
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorCommon31–35 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
Common ShelduckTadorna tadornaResidentCommon58–67 cmRecorded all year
Whooper SwanCygnus cygnusWinter visitorCommon140–165 cmRegularly Aug–Mar
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