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.

All 143 birds in September

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.

143146
Show as a table
Goldcrest
GoldcrestSmallest · 8.5cm
to
Whooper Swan
Whooper SwanLargest · 165cm
From the Goldcrest (8.5 cm) to the Whooper Swan (165 cm)52 families

All 200 birds on the list

Showing 162–184 of 200 species

European Pied Flycatcher

European Pied Flycatcher

Ficedula hypoleucaLC

Passage migrantUncommon

Regularly Aug

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Black Redstart

Black Redstart

Phoenicurus ochrurosLC

Passage migrantUncommon

Regularly Oct–Feb

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Water Pipit

Water Pipit

Anthus spinolettaLC

Passage migrantUncommon

Regularly Nov–Feb

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Cepphus grylleLC

ResidentUncommon

Regularly Oct

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Whinchat

Whinchat

Saxicola rubetraLC

Summer visitorUncommon

Regularly Apr–Jul

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Tawny Owl

Tawny Owl

Strix alucoLC

ResidentUncommon

Recorded all year

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Great Skua

Great Skua

Stercorarius skuaLC

Passage migrantUncommon

Regularly Aug–Sep

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Little Tern

Little Tern

Sternula albifronsLC

Passage migrantUncommon

Regularly May–Aug

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D

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Arctic Loon

Arctic Loon

Gavia arcticaLC

Passage migrantUncommon

Regularly Oct–Jan

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Cuckoo

Cuckoo

Cuculus canorusLC

Passage migrantUncommon

Regularly May–Jun

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Greater White-fronted Goose

Greater White-fronted Goose

Anser albifronsLC

Passage migrantUncommon

Regularly Oct

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Ring Ouzel

Ring Ouzel

Turdus torquatusLC

Passage migrantUncommon

Regularly Apr–Oct

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Red Crossbill

Red Crossbill

Loxia curvirostraLC

Winter visitorUncommon

Regularly Jun–Apr

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Northern Pintail

Northern Pintail

Anas acutaLC

Passage migrantUncommon

Regularly Aug–Apr

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Common Reed-warbler

Common Reed-warbler

Acrocephalus scirpaceusLC

Passage migrantUncommon

Regularly May–Jun

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Bohemian Waxwing

Bohemian Waxwing

Bombycilla garrulusLC

Passage migrantUncommon

Regularly Dec–Jan

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Pomarine Jaeger

Pomarine Jaeger

Stercorarius pomarinusLC

Passage migrantUncommon

Regularly Aug–Oct

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Great White Egret

Great White Egret

Ardea albaLC

ScarceRare
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Osprey

Osprey

Pandion haliaetusLC

Summer visitorRare

Regularly May–Jul

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Jack Snipe

Jack Snipe

Lymnocryptes minimusLC

Passage migrantRare

Regularly Oct–Nov

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Mandarin Duck

Mandarin Duck

Aix galericulataLC

ResidentRare

Regularly Apr–Sep

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Sooty Shearwater

Sooty Shearwater

Ardenna griseaNT

ScarceRare
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Common Redstart

Common Redstart

Phoenicurus phoenicurusLC

Passage migrantRare

Regularly May–Jun

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
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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

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