Birds in East Lothian
200 species listed · birdwatchers' records, 2019–2024
Our list for East Lothian has 200 bird species recorded regularly there: 88 residents, 28 summer visitors, 29 winter visitors, 41 passage migrants and 14 scarce visitors.
The list comes from 235,000 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.
Birds to see in East Lothian in September
143 species on our list are recorded regularly this month. These are the ones birdwatchers record most often.

Carrion Crow
Resident

European Herring Gull
Resident

Eurasian Oystercatcher
Resident

Woodpigeon
Resident

Black-headed Gull
Resident

Curlew
Resident

Redshank
Resident

Pied Wagtail
Resident
Arriving in September: Pink-footed Goose, Mistle Thrush, Horned Grebe, Little Stint, Whooper Swan, Surf Scoter, Short-eared Owl, Brent Goose and 4 more.
Through the year
Species recorded regularly in East Lothian each month: most in October (146), fewest in December (121). Choose a month to see its birds.
All 200 birds on the list
Showing 47–69 of 200 species

Eurasian Teal
Anas creccaLC
Recorded all year

Meadow Pipit
Anthus pratensisLC
Recorded all year

Dunnock
Prunella modularisLC
Recorded all year

Canada Goose
Branta canadensisLC
Recorded all year

Linnet
Linaria cannabinaLC
Recorded all year

European Shag
Gulosus aristotelisLC
Recorded all year

Bar-tailed Godwit
Limosa lapponicaNT
Recorded all year

Reed Bunting
Emberiza schoeniclusLC
Recorded all year
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Long-tailed Duck
Clangula hyemalisVU
Regularly Oct–May

Northern Lapwing
Vanellus vanellusNT
Recorded all year

Rock Pipit
Anthus petrosusLC
Recorded all year

Rock Dove
Columba liviaLC
Recorded all year

Song Thrush
Turdus philomelosLC
Recorded all year

Pink-footed Goose
Anser brachyrhynchusLC
Regularly Sep–Jun

Velvet Scoter
Melanitta fuscaVU
Recorded all year

Common Merganser
Mergus merganserLC
Recorded all year

Common Tern
Sterna hirundoLC
Regularly Apr–Sep

Redwing
Turdus iliacusNT
Regularly Oct–Apr

Coal Tit
Periparus aterLC
Recorded all year

Fieldfare
Turdus pilarisLC
Regularly Oct–Mar

Red-throated Loon
Gavia stellataLC
Recorded all year

Bullfinch
Pyrrhula pyrrhulaLC
Recorded all year

Kittiwake
Rissa tridactylaVU
Regularly Feb–Dec
Frequently Asked Questions
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