Find Birds by Location
Find which birds you may see in your selected location. (Locations with an * are outside of our Recording Area). The month defaults to the current month. This function is continuing to be developed, any problems identified please email webmaster@sdos.org
(Bird data shown is for the 25 years 2000 to 2024 inclusive). When selecting a bird, months shown in Red are very small numbers(<10)
You have the option to produce a checklist if you wish.
Arctic Skua
🔍 Overview Powerful and agile, the Arctic Skua is a pirate of the skies, best known in Sussex as a scarce but thrilling passage migrant. Fairly common spring and scarce…
Arctic Tern
🔍 Overview Delicate and graceful, the Arctic Tern is a long-distance migrant famous for its epic pole-to-pole journey. Every year, Arctic Terns migrate from the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic…
Avocet
🔍 Overview Striking and elegant, the Avocet is a rare but iconic wader in Sussex, most commonly spotted at coastal wetlands and saltmarshes. With its upturned bill and bold black-and-white…
Bar-tailed Godwit
🔍 Overview Fairly common winter visitor and passage migrant. Elegant and slender, the Bar-tailed Godwit is a regular passage and winter visitor to Sussex’s coastal mudflats, especially around Goring Gap, Widewater,…
Black Redstart
📍 Local Expert Tip ” Black Redstarts are passage birds, especially in Autumn can be seen along the tops of the Downs especially where there are farm buildings. A few individuals…
Black Tern
🔍 Overview A graceful marsh tern seen on migration in spring and autumn. Not a regular breeder in the UK. 🪶 Key Identification Features Breeding: Smoky-black body, grey wings Non-breeding:…
Black-headed Gull
🔍 Overview The most familiar gull in Sussex, especially around coastal towns, wetlands, and inland reservoirs. Not truly black-headed – its breeding plumage features a chocolate-brown hood. 🪶 Key Identification…
Black-throated Diver
🔍 Overview A scarce winter visitor to Sussex seas. Less frequently recorded than Red-throated Diver, but regular offshore. 🪶 Key Identification Features Winter: Sleek grey head, dark back, clean white…
Blackbird
🔍 Overview One of the most familiar garden birds in Sussex. Males are sleek black with a bright yellow bill, while females are dark brown. Common across gardens, woodlands, and…
Blue Tit
🔍 Overview A colourful and acrobatic garden favourite across Sussex. Found in almost any habitat with trees and shrubs, especially fond of garden feeders. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Small…
Brent Goose
🔍 Overview Small and dark, the Brent Goose is a winter visitor to Sussex’s coastal mudflats. Most common from October to March, often in large flocks feeding on eelgrass and…
Carrion Crow
🔍 Overview Intelligent, all-black crow commonly seen in fields, parks, and towns across Sussex. Wary but often curious, it adapts well to both rural and urban habitats. 🪶 Key Identification…
Caspian Gull
🔍 Overview An increasingly regular large gull in Sussex, especially in winter. Tricky to identify but becoming more familiar to keen observers. 🪶 Key Identification Features Adult: Long-legged, pale grey…
Common Eider
🔍 Overview Britain’s heaviest duck, more common in northern UK but occasionally seen off Sussex coasts. Scarce winter visitor and passage migrant; very scarce non-breeder in summer. 🪶 Key Identification…
Common Guillemot
🔍 Overview A sleek seabird, the Common Guillemot is mostly seen off Sussex during winter or on spring sea-watches, though breeding colonies lie further west. Last bred in 1904. 🪶…
Common Sandpiper
📍 Local Expert Tip “The Common Sandpiper is a passage migrant with birds visible anywhere along the river. However, the section around the old Cement Works is a reliable section and…
Common Scoter
🔍 Overview The Common Scoter is a sea duck seen off the Sussex coast in winter or on spring migration. Usually in flocks, often distant offshore. 🪶 Key Identification Features…
Common Starling
🔍 Overview Shiny and social, the Starling is a brilliant presence in Sussex fields and gardens. Known for its iridescent plumage and murmuring flocks. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium…
Common Tern
🔍 Overview Nicknamed the “sea swallow,” the Common Tern is a graceful summer breeder in Sussex, nesting on shingle islands and lagoons. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium (31–35 cm)Plumage:…
Cormorant
🔍 Overview A sleek fisher and silhouette of Sussex rivers, lakes, and coast. The Cormorant is an adaptable and widespread bird often seen drying its wings. 🪶 Key Identification Features…
Eurasian Whimbrel
📍 Local Expert Tip “The Whimbrel is a regular Spring and Autumn passage migrant with a few birds likely present most days from mid-April to end of May and again from…
Fulmar
🔍 Overview A stiff-winged seabird seen gliding along Sussex cliffs and offshore waters, especially during spring and summer. 🪶 Key Identification Features Gull-like but with tubenose nostrils Pale grey wings,…
Gadwall
🔍 Overview A subtly beautiful dabbling duck, found across Sussex wetlands in winter and breeding in select sites. Very scarce breeder and scarce summer non-breeder; fairly common winter visitor; scarce…
Gannet
🔍 Overview The UK’s largest seabird, the Gannet is a spectacular sight off Sussex coasts, plunge-diving with dramatic speed during migration. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Large seabird (87–100 cm)Plumage:…
Garganey
🔍 Overview A scarce and elegant spring migrant, typically seen in Sussex from March to May. 🪶 Key Identification Features Male: Distinctive white eye-stripe, brown head, patterned flanks Female: Similar…
Goldeneye
🔍 Overview A striking diving duck, found in Sussex on freshwater lakes and reservoirs in winter. 🪶 Key Identification Features Male: Black-and-white with greenish head and golden eye Female: Grey…
Great Black-backed Gull
📍 Local Expert Tip “The Great Black-backed Gull is the largest gull in the world and a frequent sight anywhere along the tideline and at low tide in the Adur Estuary…
Great Crested Grebe
🔍 Overview Elegant and ornate, the Great Crested Grebe is a classic waterbird, known for its beautiful breeding display and slender profile. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium-large (46–51 cm)Plumage:…
Great Northern Diver
🔍 Overview A large, impressive diver, mostly seen off the Sussex coast in winter. Known for its haunting breeding calls in summer range. 🪶 Key Identification Features Winter plumage: Blackish…
Great Skua
Herring Gull
🔍 Overview A large and familiar gull, breeding on Sussex coast and present year-round on coastal and inland water bodies. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Large (55–66 cm) Plumage: Light grey…
Kittiwake
🔍 Overview A delicate, cliff-loving gull, the Kittiwake may be seen from Sussex headlands during passage or following ships. Common but very localised breeding species; fairly common or common winter…
Knot
🔍 Overview A gorgeous winter wader, the Knot in plumage can appear almost white or deep cinnamon in spring plumage along coastlines. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Stocky wader (23–26 cm)Plumage:…
Little Gull
🔍 Overview The smallest gull in the world, the Little Gull is a scarce but regular passage migrant along the Sussex coast. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Very small (25–29 cm)Plumage:…
Little Tern
🔍 Overview A summer breeder on Sussex’s shingle beaches, the Little Tern is small, agile, and highly vocal. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Very small tern (22–24 cm)Plumage: Pale grey above,…
Manx Shearwater
🔍 Overview A true ocean wanderer, the Manx Shearwater is seen passing Sussex headlands on migration—graceful and fast over waves.Fairly common spring to autumn passage migrant. 🪶 Key Identification Features…
Mediterranean Gull
📍 Local Expert Tip “The Mediterranean Gull is a species undergoing a dramatic range expansion and now breeds in Sussex although not in the local area. However, in Spring the high…
Nightjar
An elusive summer visitor, the Nightjar haunts heathland and woodland clearings, emerging at dusk. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium (26–28 cm)Plumage: Cryptic grey-brownDistinctive Marks: White wing spots (male), long wingsBill:…
Pintail
The Pintail is a sleek and elegant winter duck in Sussex, known for its long tail and graceful posture. A regular visitor to floodplains and estuaries. 🪶 Key Identification Features…
Pomarine Skua
🔍 Overview A powerful seabird seen offshore during migration. Rare but regular in Sussex seawatches. Passage migrant in variable numbers in spring; usually scarce; very scarce in autumn; rare in…
Purple Sandpiper
📍 Local Expert Tip “At Shoreham Harbour, birds regularly roost at high tide on the old wooden jetty on the west side but can be hard to spot. Shortly before…
Razorbill
🔍 Overview The Razorbill is a chunky seabird seen off Sussex in winter or during migration. Related to puffins and guillemots. Common winter visitor and fairly common passage migrant; last…
Red-throated Diver
🔍 Overview A sleek, elegant diver seen off the Sussex coast in winter. The Red-throated Diver is the commonest diver here. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Large (55–67 cm)Plumage: Grey above,…
Ringed Plover
📍 Local Expert Tip ” The Ringed Plover is much declined but still a regular sight in autumn and winter on the mudflats opposite Coronation Green / Town Quay and between…
Rock Pipit
🔍 Overview A streaky, coastal pipit often found on rocky shores and harbour walls in winter. Scarce resident and scarce winter visitor; very rare away from the coast. 🪶 Key…
Sandwich Tern
🔍 Overview A smart, crested seabird with a harsh call, the Sandwich Tern is a common coastal summer visitor in Sussex. Localised breeding summer visitor and common passage migrant; very…
Shag
🔍 Overview A slim, green-glossed seabird often confused with the Cormorant, but favouring rockier coastal habitats. Scarce winter visitor and passage migrant; rare away from coast. 🪶 Key Identification Features…
Shoveler
🔍 Overview A distinctive dabbling duck with a comically large bill, found widely in Sussex in winter and during passage. 🪶 Key Identification Features Large spatula-shaped bill Male: green head,…
Slavonian Grebe
🔍 Overview A small and elegant grebe, mainly seen in winter along the Sussex coast and occasionally inland. Scarce winter visitor and passage migrant. 🪶 Key Identification Features Black and…
Spotted Redshank
🔍 Overview A sleek wader often found in Sussex on passage and in small numbers in winter. Scarce passage migrant and very scarce winter visitor. 🪶 Key Identification Features Longer-legged…
Turnstone
🔍 OverviewA sturdy, energetic wader found along Sussex shingle and rocky coasts in all seasons. Known for flipping stones to find prey. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Small wader (22–24…
Velvet Scoter
🔍 Overview A bulky sea duck seen off the Sussex coast in winter, usually among flocks of Common Scoter. Scarce passage migrant and winter visitor along the coast; rare inland….
Yellow-legged Gull
🔍 Overview A large, robust gull mainly seen in Sussex in late summer and early autumn, with a few year-round. 🪶 Key Identification Features Grey mantle darker than Herring Gull…