Common Birds in Orkney Islands
Our list for Orkney Islands has 109 common birds recorded regularly there: 26 residents, 53 summer visitors, 6 winter visitors, 23 passage migrants and 1 scarce visitor
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Orkney Islands in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 109, most common first
Eurasian OystercatcherHaematopus ostralegusResidentCommon40–45 cmRecorded all year
MallardAnas platyrhynchosResidentCommon50–65 cmRecorded all year
Eurasian WigeonMareca penelopeWinter visitorCommon42–51 cmRegularly Aug–Jun
Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundusResidentCommon38–44 cmRecorded all year
Common StarlingSturnus vulgarisResidentCommon21–23 cmRecorded all year
European Herring GullLarus argentatusResidentCommon55–67 cmRecorded all year
CurlewNumenius arquataResidentCommon50–60 cmRecorded all year
Common GullLarus canusResidentCommon40–46 cmRecorded all year
Hen HarrierCircus cyaneusPassage migrantCommon41–52 cmRegularly Aug–Dec
Long-tailed DuckClangula hyemalisWinter visitorCommon37–60 cmRegularly Oct–May
Great Black-backed GullLarus marinusResidentCommon64–79 cmRecorded all year
FulmarFulmarus glacialisSummer visitorCommon45–50 cmRegularly Feb–Dec
Barn SwallowHirundo rusticaSummer visitorCommon17–19 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
RedshankTringa totanusResidentCommon27–29 cmRecorded all year
Arctic TernSterna paradisaeaSummer visitorCommon33–39 cmRegularly May–Sep
Greylag GooseAnser anserResidentCommon75–90 cmRecorded all year
Meadow PipitAnthus pratensisSummer visitorCommon14–15 cmRegularly Mar–Nov
Rock DoveColumba liviaSummer visitorCommon29–37 cmRegularly Jan–Nov
Hooded CrowCorvus cornixResidentCommon44–51 cmRecorded all year
Great SkuaStercorarius skuaSummer visitorCommon50–58 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
GoldeneyeBucephala clangulaWinter visitorCommon40–51 cmRegularly Oct–Apr
Tufted DuckAythya fuligulaResidentCommon40–47 cmRecorded all year
Pied WagtailMotacilla albaSummer visitorCommon17–19 cmRegularly Mar–Nov
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