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.

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…

Abundant

Blackcap

🕊️ Blackcap 🔍 Overview A sweet-singing warbler, the Blackcap is both a breeding bird and winter visitor in Sussex. Males are known for their rich, fluting song and distinctive cap….

Abundant

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…

Abundant

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…

Abundant

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:…

Very Common

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. 🪶…

Very Common

Common Buzzard

🔍 Overview Once rare, the Common Buzzard is now Sussex’s most widespread raptor. Often seen circling high above woodland and farmland, especially in spring. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium-large…

Fairly Common

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,…

Abundant

Common Redstart

🔍 Overview A striking summer migrant, the Common Redstart is a woodland gem in Sussex. Males are vibrant, and the species nests in old tree holes and clearings. 🪶 Key…

Fairly Common

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…

Abundant

Common Swift

🔍 Overview The quintessential summer sky-dweller in Sussex, Swifts arrive in May and leave by August. Spend nearly all daylight hours on the wing. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium…

Very Common

Common Whitethroat

🔍 Overview A lively warbler of Sussex hedgerows and scrub, the Whitethroat is known for its chattering song and concealed habitat preference. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Small (13–14 cm)…

Very Common

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…

Scarce

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)…

Abundant

Eurasian Stonechat

🔍 Overview A perky and charismatic bird, the Stonechat is a year-round resident of Sussex heathland, scrub, and coastal edges. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Small (11–13 cm)Plumage: Males: black…

Fairly Common

Golden Plover

🔍 Overview Scarce passage migrant in Sussex found in farmland or coastal fields. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium (28–31 cm) Plumage (breeding): Mottled gold and black Non‑breeding: Grey with pale…

Fairly Common

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…

Abundant

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…

Very Common

Hawfinch

🔍 Overview Britain’s largest finch, known for its massive bill and shy nature. Scarce in Sussex but winter sightings increasing. 🪶 Key Identification Features Bulky finch with thick neck Huge,…

Scarce

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)…

Abundant

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:…

Abundant

Lesser Whitethroat

📍 Local Expert Tip “The Lesser Whitethroat locally, is far less common than Common Whitethroat and much more elusive. Best found by learning its song and then patiently waiting for a…

Fairly Common

Linnet

  🔍 Overview Common but decreasing resident and partial migrant. A finch of open countryside and coastal scrub, Linnets are declining in parts of Sussex but remain in farmland and…

Very Common

Little Ringed Plover

🔍 Overview A dainty wader that breeds on bare, stony ground. Summer visitor and breeder in parts of Sussex. 🪶 Key Identification Features Sandy brown upperparts, white belly Bright yellow…

Scarce

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…

Abundant

Meadow Pipit

🔍 Overview A slender, streaky bird of open habitats. Common across Sussex heathlands, downs, and coastal marshes. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Small (15 cm) Plumage: Streaky brown above, pale…

Very Common

Pied Flycatcher

🔍 Overview A smart, black-and-white songbird seen mainly on spring and autumn passage in Sussex. Scarce breeder. 🪶 Key Identification Features Male: Black above, white below, white wing patches Female:…

Scarce

Ring Ouzel

🔍 Overview A summer thrush from upland Britain, seen in Sussex during spring and autumn migration. 🪶 Key Identification Features Blackish plumage with pale wing edges Bold white crescent across…

Scarce

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…

Scarce

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:…

Abundant

Sedge Warbler

🔍 OverviewA lively and restless warbler often seen flitting through reedbeds and scrubby wetland edges in Sussex, especially in spring and summer. Its scratchy, varied song bursts from cover and…

Fairly Common

Short-eared Owl

🔍 Overview A day-flying owl that winters on open ground in Sussex and occasionally breeds. Scarce winter visitor and passage migrant; Last bred 1922. 🪶 Key Identification Features Pale owl…

Scarce

Siskin

🔍 OverviewA colourful finch often seen in Sussex during winter, especially in alder and conifer stands. Some breed locally, mostly in wooded uplands.  Fairly common breeder. 🪶 Key Identification Features…

Fairly Common

Skylark

🔍 Overview A classic voice of Sussex’s open fields and downs. Known for its beautiful, sustained song flight over farmland and heath. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium (18 cm)…

Very Common

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:…

Very Common

Spotted Flycatcher

🔍 OverviewA slim, subtly beautiful summer visitor that’s sadly declining in Sussex. Typically seen sallying out from open perches to catch insects mid-air. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Small (14–15…

Fairly Common

Tree Pipit

🔍 OverviewFairly common but local summer visitor. A subtle but charismatic spring migrant to Sussex heathlands. Known for its parachuting song flight over open areas. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size:…

Fairly Common

Whinchat

🔍 OverviewA charming migrant seen in Sussex during spring and autumn passage. Prefers rough fields and heathland edges. Rare summer visitor; last bred in 1999. Very rare in winter. 🪶…

Fairly Common

Wood Sandpiper

🔍 Overview A graceful and rare passage wader in Sussex, especially during spring and late summer migration. 🪶 Key Identification Features Slim, with a long neck and greenish legs Pale…

Scarce

Woodlark

🔍 Overview A rare but locally breeding songbird of open heath and forestry rides in Sussex. Scarce resident and very scarce passage migrant. 🪶 Key Identification Features Short tail, broad…

Scarce

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)…

Abundant

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…

Abundant