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 139–161 of 200 species

King Eider
Somateria spectabilisLC
Regularly Mar

Common Raven
Corvus coraxLC
Recorded all year

Red Grouse
Lagopus scoticaLC
Recorded all year

Spotted Redshank
Tringa erythropusLC
Regularly Aug

Short-eared Owl
Asio flammeusLC
Regularly Sep–May

Brent Goose
Branta berniclaLC
Regularly Sep–May

Yellow-browed Warbler
Phylloscopus inornatusLC
Regularly Sep–Oct

Eurasian Woodcock
Scolopax rusticolaLC
Regularly Oct–Mar
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Garganey
Spatula querquedulaLC
Regularly May–Aug

Barn Owl
Tyto albaLC
Regularly Oct–Jul

Avocet
Recurvirostra avosettaLC

Manx Shearwater
Puffinus puffinusLC
Regularly May–Oct

Lesser Whitethroat
Curruca currucaLC
Regularly Apr–Oct

Black-necked Grebe
Podiceps nigricollisLC

Pochard
Aythya ferinaVU
Regularly Jul–Feb

Garden Warbler
Sylvia borinLC
Regularly Apr–Jun

Spotted Flycatcher
Muscicapa striataLC
Regularly May–Aug

Red-legged Partridge
Alectoris rufaNT
Recorded all year

Red-backed Shrike
Lanius collurioLC

Brambling
Fringilla montifringillaLC
Regularly Oct–Mar

Greater Scaup
Aythya marilaLC
Regularly Sep–Mar

Snow Bunting
Plectrophenax nivalisLC
Regularly Oct–Mar

Merlin
Falco columbariusLC
Regularly Jul–Jan
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