Birds in Highland
200 species listed · birdwatchers' records, 2019–2024
Our list for Highland has 200 bird species recorded regularly there: 87 residents, 46 summer visitors, 30 winter visitors, 26 passage migrants and 10 scarce visitors.
The list comes from 468,000 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 Highland in September
160 species on our list are recorded regularly this month. These are the ones birdwatchers record most often.

European Robin
Resident

European Herring Gull
Resident

Chaffinch
Resident

Woodpigeon
Resident

Hooded Crow
Resident

Pied Wagtail
Summer visitor

Grey Heron
Resident

Great Black-backed Gull
Resident
Arriving in September: Pink-footed Goose, Whooper Swan, Common Loon, Brent Goose, Purple Sandpiper, Brambling, Northern Pintail, Arctic Loon and 10 more.
Through the year
Species recorded regularly in Highland each month: most in September (160), fewest in November (125). Choose a month to see its birds.
All 200 birds on the list
Showing 70–92 of 200 species

Linnet
Linaria cannabinaLC
Recorded all year

Whooper Swan
Cygnus cygnusLC
Regularly Sep–Mar

Razorbill
Alca tordaLC
Recorded all year

Mute Swan
Cygnus olorLC
Recorded all year

Treecreeper
Certhia familiarisLC
Recorded all year

Blackcap
Sylvia atricapillaLC
Regularly Apr–Feb

Crested Tit
Lophophanes cristatusLC
Recorded all year

Common Tern
Sterna hirundoLC
Regularly Apr–Sep
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Fulmar
Fulmarus glacialisLC
Regularly Dec–Sep

Spotted Flycatcher
Muscicapa striataLC
Regularly May–Sep

Black Guillemot
Cepphus grylleLC
Recorded all year

Sandwich Tern
Thalasseus sandvicensisLC
Regularly Mar–Oct

Common Merganser
Mergus merganserLC
Recorded all year

Grey Wagtail
Motacilla cinereaLC
Recorded all year

Common Shelduck
Tadorna tadornaLC
Recorded all year

Osprey
Pandion haliaetusLC
Regularly Mar–Sep

Ringed Plover
Charadrius hiaticulaLC
Recorded all year

Kestrel
Falco tinnunculusLC
Recorded all year

Bullfinch
Pyrrhula pyrrhulaLC
Recorded all year

Great Skua
Stercorarius skuaLC
Regularly Apr–Oct

Red-throated Loon
Gavia stellataLC
Recorded all year

Moorhen
Gallinula chloropusLC
Recorded all year

Common Loon
Gavia immerLC
Regularly Sep–Jul
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