List of birds of Wales

[2] Order: Anseriformes   Family: Anatidae The swans, ducks and geese are medium to large birds that are adapted to an aquatic existence with webbed feet and bills which are flattened to a greater or lesser extent.

Order: Otidiformes   Family: Otididae Large, sturdy birds of open plains with long legs and necks and strong feet.

Order: Gruiformes   Family: Rallidae These birds mainly occupy dense vegetation in damp environments near lakes, marshes or rivers.

Order: Podicipediformes   Family: Podicipedidae Grebes are small to medium-large diving birds with lobed toes and pointed bills.

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Haematopodidae The oystercatchers are large, obvious and noisy wading birds with strong bills used for smashing or prising open molluscs.

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Charadriidae Small to medium-sized wading birds with compact bodies, short, thick necks and long, usually pointed, wings.

Different lengths of legs and bills enable multiple species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food.

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Laridae Medium to large seabirds with grey, white and black plumage, webbed feet and strong bills.

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Stercorariidae Medium to large seabirds with mainly grey or brown plumage, sharp claws and a hooked tip to the bill.

Order: Procellariiformes   Family: Oceanitidae The austral storm petrels are the smallest seabirds, feeding on plankton and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering.

Order: Procellariiformes   Family: Diomedeidae The albatrosses are among the largest flying birds with long, narrow wings for gliding.

Order: Procellariiformes   Family: Hydrobatidae The northern storm petrels are the smallest seabirds, feeding on plankton and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering.

Order: Procellariiformes   Family: Procellariidae These are highly pelagic birds with long, narrow wings and tube-shaped nostrils.

Order: Ciconiiformes   Family: Ciconiidae Storks are large, heavy, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long stout bills and wide wingspans.

Order: Suliformes   Family: Phalacrocoracidae Cormorants are medium to large aquatic birds with mainly dark plumage and areas of coloured skin on the face.

Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Ardeidae Herons and egrets are medium to large wading birds with long necks and legs.

Order: Strigiformes   Family: Strigidae Typical owls are small to large solitary nocturnal birds of prey.

Order: Coraciiformes   Family: Alcedinidae Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads, long pointed bills, short legs and stubby tails.

Order: Coraciiformes   Family: Meropidae A group of near-passerine birds characterised by richly coloured plumage, slender bodies and usually elongated central tail feathers.

Order: Piciformes   Family: Picidae Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like beaks, short legs, stiff tails and long tongues used for capturing insects.

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Oriolidae Orioles are colourful, medium-sized passerine birds with far-carrying, fluting songs.

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Corvidae The crows and their relatives are fairly large birds with strong bills and are usually intelligent and adaptable.

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Bombycillidae The waxwings are a group of passerine birds characterised by soft, silky plumage and unique red tips to some of the wing feathers.

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Paridae Tits are mainly small, stocky, woodland species with short stout bills.

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Remizidae Small birds with finely pointed bills that build purse-like nests hanging from a branch.

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Alaudidae Larks are small terrestrial birds with often extravagant songs and display flights.

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Turdidae The thrushes and chats are plump, soft-plumaged, small to medium-sized insectivores or sometimes omnivores, often feeding on the ground.

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Muscicapidae The flycatchers are small birds that fly out from a perch to catch insects in the air.

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Cinclidae Dippers are a group of perching birds whose habitat includes aquatic environments in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Icteridae A group of small to medium-sized, often colourful passerine birds restricted to the New World.

Red kite, often considered to be the national bird of Wales. [ 1 ]
A pair of mute swans, a resident bird of lowland waters [ 6 ]
Brent goose of the dark-bellied race B. b. bernicla , a winter visitor mainly to the Burry Inlet [ 7 ]
Mallard, the commonest and most widespread duck [ 8 ]
Eider, small numbers winter around the coast and breeding was recorded for the first time in 1997. [ 9 ]
Collared dove, first recorded in 1959 and now a common resident. [ 13 ]
Little grebe, breeds locally on well-vegetated water bodies [ 14 ]
Oystercatcher, common in coastal areas. [ 15 ]
Lapwing, seriously declining as a breeding species. [ 16 ]
Sanderling, a winter visitor and passage migrant, mainly on sandy shores [ 17 ]
Snipe, declining like many breeding waders [ 18 ]
Turnstone, a non-breeding species but some are present on rocky coasts all year round. [ 15 ]
Ring-billed gull, the first British record of this American species was in Wales in 1973. It now occurs annually. [ 20 ]
Little tern, only a single colony remains in Wales at Gronant in the north-east. [ 21 ]
Puffin, breeds on islands and headlands; the largest colonies are on Skomer and Skokholm. [ 22 ]
The fulmar first bred in Wales in the 1940s and is now common on sea cliffs. [ 23 ]
The gannet has a single major Welsh colony at Grassholm island, now with over 30,000 pairs. [ 24 ]
The little egret is a recent colonist that first bred in 2001. [ 25 ]
Buzzard, a common bird of prey which reaches high population densities in some areas. [ 27 ]
Barn owl, a scarce bird of farmland. [ 28 ]
Kingfisher, a colourful inhabitant of lowland waters [ 29 ]
A young green woodpecker, declining in many western areas [ 30 ]
Peregrines from Wales have been used in falconry since Medieval times. [ 31 ]
Raven, Wales has some of the highest densities of this species in the world. [ 32 ]
Blue tit, a common woodland bird which easily adapts to parks and gardens [ 33 ]
Swallow, a very widespread summer visitor breeding in every 10km square in Wales. [ 34 ]
A wren at the nest. It is one of Wales' commonest birds, occurring in a wide variety of habitats. [ 37 ]
Treecreeper, a common but elusive bird of woodlands [ 38 ]
Redstart, a common summer migrant in upland woods and scrub [ 39 ]
Ring ouzel, a scarce breeder in rocky upland areas [ 40 ]
Pied flycatcher, a characteristic bird of sessile oak woods [ 42 ]
House sparrow, strongly associated with human habitation [ 43 ]
Tree pipit, widely distributed across the country in summer. [ 44 ]
Chaffinch, one of the commonest and most widespread species in Wales [ 15 ]
Yellowhammer, a declining species but still the commonest bunting in Wales [ 45 ]
Yellow warbler, one on Bardsey Island in 1964 was the first European record of this North American species. [ 46 ]