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.
Bearded Tit
🔍 Overview A reedbed specialist with a misleading name—more closely related to larks than tits. A scarce breeder and winter visitor in Sussex. 🪶 Key Identification Features Male: Ginger body,…
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…
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…
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…
Cetti’s Warbler
📍 Local Expert Tip “The Cetti’s Warbler is a relatively recent coloniser from the Continent and can be reliably found at Brooklands Park, along the stream and around the lake, where…
Chaffinch
🔍 Overview One of the most colourful and common finches in Sussex. Males are especially bright in spring. Found in gardens, woodlands, and farmland year-round. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size:…
Coal Tit
🔍 Overview A small, agile woodland bird that often joins mixed flocks in Sussex woodlands and gardens. Less bold than the blue tit but just as active and vocal. 🪶…
Common Chiffchaff
🔍 Overview A small, greenish warbler, arriving in Sussex each spring. Known for its rhythmic, onomatopoeic “chiff-chaff” song. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Very small (10–12 cm) Plumage: Olive-grey above,…
Common Pochard
🔍 Overview A diving duck, the Pochard is a regular winter visitor to Sussex lakes and gravel pits. Males are handsome with a rusty head and striking grey body. 🪶…
Common Redshank
📍 Local Expert Tip “The Estuary around the Ferry Bridge, Norfolk Bridge and RSPB Adur sections are favoured areas as is the area between the Railway and Old Toll Bridges….
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…
Coot
🔍 Overview Common and unmistakable, the Coot is a year-round resident of Sussex ponds, lakes, and rivers. Not as friendly as it looks! 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium (36–38…
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…
Dartford Warbler
🔍 Overview A local Sussex speciality and year-round resident of heathland. A small, dark warbler with a big personality. 🪶 Key Identification Features Male: Dark grey above, reddish below, red…
Dunnock
🔍 Overview A shy, understated passerine of Sussex gardens and shrubberies. Often mistaken for a sparrow, but with a skittish, furtive nature. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Small (14 cm)…
Egyptian Goose
🔍 Overview A non-native species now breeding freely in parts of Sussex. Recognisable and increasingly widespread. 🪶 Key Identification Features Pale buff plumage with dark chest patch Eye-ring and chestnut…
Eurasian Teal
🔍 Overview The UK’s smallest dabbling duck, the Teal is a common winter visitor to Sussex wetlands. Males are striking, females subtly patterned. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Small duck…
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…
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…
Goldfinch
🔍 Overview Bright, musical, and common, the Goldfinch is one of Sussex’s most recognisable garden and countryside finches. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Small (12–13 cm)Plumage: Red face, gold wing…
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 Tit
🔍 Overview A large, vocal tit common in Sussex gardens, woodlands, and parks year-round. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium (14 cm) Plumage: Yellow belly and green back Distinctive Marks: Black…
Greenfinch
🔍 Overview A stout, seed-eating finch common at Sussex feeders, especially in winter and spring. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Small (16 cm) Plumage: Olive-green with yellow wing and tail bars…
Grey Heron
🔍 Overview A familiar, statuesque wader, the Grey Heron patrols Sussex waters year-round. Often seen standing motionless, waiting to strike. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Large (90–100 cm)Plumage: Grey body, white…
Grey Wagtail
🔍 Overview A vibrant, long-tailed wagtail often found near fast-moving water, especially in upland Sussex streams and winter gardens. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Small (18–20 cm)Plumage: Grey back, bright yellow…
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…
House Sparrow
🔍 Overview A familiar and widespread resident in Sussex, often associated with human settlements. Numbers declined but remain strong in many towns. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Small (14–15 cm)…
Jackdaw
🔍 Overview The smallest UK crow, Jackdaws are common across Sussex’s farmlands, towns, and woodlands. Known for their curious, intelligent behaviour. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium (33 cm) Plumage:…
Kingfisher
🔍 Overview A flash of electric blue by Sussex waters — the Kingfisher is small but striking, and the emblem of healthy rivers. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Tiny (16–17 cm)Plumage:…
Lesser Black-backed Gull
🔍 Overview A powerful gull with dark slate-grey back, the Lesser Black-backed Gull winters along Sussex coast and inland waters. Scarce breeder. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Large gull (55–60 cm)Plumage:…
Little Grebe
🔍 Overview Also known as “Dabchick,” the Little Grebe is a small, round diving bird commonly found on Sussex ponds and lakes. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Tiny (25–29 cm)Plumage: Chestnut…
Long-tailed Duck
🔍 Overview A striking Arctic duck, usually seen off the Sussex coast in winter. Rare inland. 🪶 Key Identification Features Male winter: White head and body, dark cheek patch, long…
Magpie
🔍 Overview A familiar black-and-white bird in Sussex gardens and fields, with a reputation for intelligence and bold behaviour. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium-large (44–46 cm) Plumage: Black and…
Mallard
🔍 Overview The UK’s most familiar duck, the Mallard is a common sight on Sussex’s lakes, rivers, ponds, and even urban parks year-round. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Large (58…
Mandarin Duck
🔍 Overview An introduced species from Asia, now thriving in parts of Sussex. Arguably the most ornamental duck in Britain. 🪶 Key Identification Features Male: Bright orange sail-like feathers, ornate…
Moorhen
🔍 Overview Common in Sussex wetlands, the Moorhen is a dark, duck-sized waterbird with a red bill and a quirky personality. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium (30–35 cm)Plumage: Dark brown-black…
Mute Swan
🔍 Overview A majestic symbol of British waterways, the Mute Swan is common across Sussex’s lakes, rivers, and estuaries. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Very large (140–160 cm wingspan)Plumage: All whiteDistinctive…
Reed Warbler
🔍 Overview A secretive, common summer visitor to Sussex reedbeds, the Reed Warbler is best located by its repetitive, rhythmic song during breeding season. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Small…
Ring-necked Parakeet
🔍 Overview A striking green parrot with a growing presence in Sussex, especially around urban parks and gardens. Scarce introduced resident; has bred. 🪶 Key Identification Features Bright green plumage…
Robin
🔍 Overview A beloved and bold garden bird, the Robin is a year-round presence throughout Sussex in gardens, woodlands, and hedgerows. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Small (14 cm) Plumage:…
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,…
Song Thrush
🔍 Overview A sweet-voiced garden and woodland thrush with a stronghold in Sussex. Known for repeating phrases in its rich song. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium (23 cm) Plumage:…
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…
Tufted Duck
🔍 OverviewA smart and common diving duck found year-round on Sussex lakes and reservoirs. Easily identified by its black-and-white plumage and diving behaviour. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium (42–48…
Water Rail
🔍 Overview A secretive marsh bird heard more often than seen, found in reedbeds and wetland edges. 🪶 Key Identification Features Grey face and underparts Brown back with black streaking…
Waxwing
🔍 Overview A striking winter visitor from Scandinavia, appearing in irruption years (every few winters) and favouring berry-laden trees. 🪶 Key Identification Features Pinkish-grey body Prominent crest, black mask Yellow…
Woodpigeon
🔍 Overview The most widespread and abundant pigeon in Sussex and across the UK. Common in gardens, farmland, parks, and woodlands. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Large pigeon (38–44 cm)…
Wren
🔍 Overview Britain’s most widespread breeding bird, the Wren is tiny but loud, often found in tangled undergrowth across Sussex. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Tiny (9 cm) Plumage: Brown…
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…