Birds of Nova Scotia
497 bird species have been recorded in Nova Scotia on the eBird network — explore the 496 in the Birbs encyclopedia, and see which are being reported near you right now.
497 bird species have been recorded in Nova Scotia on eBird, the global citizen-science database run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 496 of them have a full profile in the Birbs encyclopedia — start with the well-known birds below, browse the complete list, then check which are being reported near you right now.
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Birds to know first
Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
African Collared DoveStreptopelia roseogrisea
Alder FlycatcherEmpidonax alnorum
American AvocetRecurvirostra americana
American Barn OwlTyto furcata
American BitternBotaurus lentiginosus
American Black DuckAnas rubripes
American Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon pyrrhonota
American CootFulica americana
American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
American Dusky FlycatcherEmpidonax oberholseri
American Golden PloverPluvialis dominica
American GoldfinchSpinus tristis
American Herring GullLarus smithsonianus
American KestrelFalco sparverius
American OystercatcherHaematopus palliatus
American PipitAnthus rubescens
American RedstartSetophaga ruticilla
American RobinTurdus migratorius
American Three-toed WoodpeckerPicoides dorsalis
American Tree SparrowSpizelloides arborea
American White IbisEudocimus albus
American White PelicanPelecanus erythrorhynchos
American WigeonMareca americana
American WoodcockScolopax minor
American Yellow WarblerSetophaga aestiva
Arctic TernSterna paradisaea
Ash-throated FlycatcherMyiarchus cinerascens
Atlantic PuffinFratercula arctica
Atlantic Yellow-nosed AlbatrossThalassarche chlororhynchos
The full checklist — 496 birds of Nova Scotia in our library
- Acadian Flycatcher
- African Collared Dove
- Alder Flycatcher
- American Avocet
- American Barn Owl
- American Bittern
- American Black Duck
- American Cliff Swallow
- American Coot
- American Crow
- American Dusky Flycatcher
- American Golden Plover
- American Goldfinch
- American Goshawk
- American Herring Gull
- American Kestrel
- American Oystercatcher
- American Pipit
- American Redstart
- American Robin
- American Three-toed Woodpecker
- American Tree Sparrow
- American White Ibis
- American White Pelican
- American Wigeon
- American Woodcock
- American Yellow Warbler
- Arctic Tern
- Ash-throated Flycatcher
- Atlantic Puffin
- Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross
- Baird’s Sandpiper
- Bald Eagle
- Baltimore Oriole
- Band-rumped Storm Petrel
- Band-tailed Pigeon
- Bar-headed Goose
- Bar-tailed Godwit
- Barn Swallow
- Barnacle Goose
- Barolo Shearwater
- Barred Owl
- Barrow’s Goldeneye
- Bay-breasted Warbler
- Bell’s Sparrow
- Bell’s Vireo
- Belted Kingfisher
- Bermuda Petrel
- Bewick’s Wren
- Bicknell’s Thrush
- Black Guillemot
- Black Rail
- Black Scoter
- Black Skimmer
- Black Swan
- Black Tern
- Black Vulture
- Black-and-white Warbler
- Black-backed Woodpecker
- Black-bellied Whistling Duck
- Black-billed Cuckoo
- Black-billed Magpie
- Black-browed Albatross
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Black-capped Petrel
- Black-chinned Hummingbird
- Black-crowned Night Heron
- Black-headed Grosbeak
- Black-headed Gull
- Black-legged Kittiwake
- Black-necked Grebe
- Black-necked Stilt
- Black-tailed Godwit
- Black-tailed Gull
- Black-throated Blue Warbler
- Black-throated Green Warbler
- Black-throated Grey Warbler
- Blackburnian Warbler
- Blackpoll Warbler
- Blue Grosbeak
- Blue Jay
- Blue-grey Gnatcatcher
- Blue-headed Vireo
- Blue-winged Teal
- Blue-winged Warbler
- Bobolink
- Bohemian Waxwing
- Bonaparte’s Gull
- Boreal Chickadee
- Boreal Owl
- Brambling
- Brant Goose
- Brewer’s Blackbird
- Brewer’s Sparrow
- Bridled Tern
- Broad-winged Hawk
- Bronzed Cowbird
- Brown Booby
- Brown Creeper
- Brown Pelican
- Brown Shrike
- Brown Thrasher
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Buff-breasted Sandpiper
- Bufflehead
- Burrowing Owl
- Cackling Goose
- California Gull
- Calliope Hummingbird
- Canada Goose
- Canada Jay
- Canada Warbler
- Canvasback
- Cape May Warbler
- Carolina Wren
- Caspian Tern
- Cassin’s Kingbird
- Cassin’s Sparrow
- Cave Swallow
- Cedar Waxwing
- Cerulean Warbler
- Chestnut-collared Longspur
- Chestnut-sided Warbler
- Chimney Swift
- Chipping Sparrow
- Chuck-will’s-widow
- Chukar Partridge
- Cinnamon Teal
- Clapper Rail
- Clay-colored Sparrow
- Common Eider
- Common Gallinule
- Common Goldeneye
- Common Grackle
- Common Greenshank
- Common Gull
- Common Kestrel
- Common Loon
- Common Merganser
- Common Murre
- Common Myna
- Common Nighthawk
- Common Pheasant
- Common Ringed Plover
- Common Shelduck
- Common Starling
- Common Tern
- Common Yellowthroat
- Connecticut Warbler
- Cooper’s Hawk
- Corn Crake
- Cory’s Shearwater
- Crested Caracara
- Curlew Sandpiper
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Desertas Petrel
- Dickcissel
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Downy Woodpecker
- Dunlin
- Eastern Bluebird
- Eastern Kingbird
- Eastern Meadowlark
- Eastern Phoebe
- Eastern Towhee
- Eastern Warbling Vireo
- Eastern Whip-poor-will
- Eastern Wood Pewee
- Eskimo Curlew
- Eurasian Chaffinch
- Eurasian Collared Dove
- Eurasian Teal
- Eurasian Whimbrel
- Eurasian Wigeon
- European Golden Plover
- European Goldfinch
- European Herring Gull
- European Storm Petrel
- Evening Grosbeak
- Field Sparrow
- Fieldfare
- Fish Crow
- Fork-tailed Flycatcher
- Forster’s Tern
- Franklin’s Gull
- Gadwall
- Garganey
- Glaucous Gull
- Glossy Ibis
- Golden Eagle
- Golden Pheasant
- Golden-crowned Kinglet
- Golden-crowned Sparrow
- Golden-winged Warbler
- Grasshopper Sparrow
- Great Black-backed Gull
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Cormorant
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Great Egret
- Great Grey Owl
- Great Horned Owl
- Great Shearwater
- Great Skua
- Great-tailed Grackle
- Greater Scaup
- Greater White-fronted Goose
- Greater Yellowlegs
- Green Heron
- Green-tailed Towhee
- Grey Catbird
- Grey Heron
- Grey Partridge
- Grey Plover
- Grey-cheeked Thrush
- Grey-crowned Rosy Finch
- Greylag Goose
- Gull-billed Tern
- Gyrfalcon
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Hammond’s Flycatcher
- Harlequin Duck
- Harris’s Sparrow
- Helmeted Guineafowl
- Henslow’s Sparrow
- Hermit Thrush
- Hermit Warbler
- Hooded Merganser
- Hooded Oriole
- Hooded Warbler
- Horned Grebe
- Horned Lark
- House Finch
- House Sparrow
- Hudsonian Godwit
- Hudsonian Whimbrel
- Iceland Gull
- Indian Peafowl
- Indigo Bunting
- Ivory Gull
- Kelp Gull
- Kentucky Warbler
- Killdeer
- King Eider
- King Rail
- Lapland Longspur
- Lark Bunting
- Lark Sparrow
- Laughing Gull
- Lazuli Bunting
- Leach’s Storm Petrel
- Least Bittern
- Least Flycatcher
- Least Sandpiper
- Least Tern
- LeConte’s Sparrow
- Lesser Black-backed Gull
- Lesser Scaup
- Lesser Yellowlegs
- Lewis’s Woodpecker
- Limpkin
- Lincoln’s Sparrow
- Little Auk
- Little Blue Heron
- Little Egret
- Little Gull
- Little Stint
- Loggerhead Shrike
- Long-billed Dowitcher
- Long-eared Owl
- Long-tailed Duck
- Long-tailed Jaeger
- Louisiana Waterthrush
- MacGillivray’s Warbler
- Magnificent Frigatebird
- Magnolia Warbler
- Mallard
- Mandarin Duck
- Manx Shearwater
- Marbled Godwit
- Marsh Wren
- Masked Booby
- Merlin
- Mississippi Kite
- Mountain Bluebird
- Mourning Dove
- Mourning Warbler
- Muscovy Duck
- Mute Swan
- Myrtle Warbler
- Nashville Warbler
- Nelson’s Sparrow
- Northern Bobwhite
- Northern Cardinal
- Northern Flicker
- Northern Fulmar
- Northern Gannet
- Northern Harrier
- Northern Hawk-Owl
- Northern House Wren
- Northern Lapwing
- Northern Mockingbird
- Northern Parula
- Northern Pintail
- Northern Raven
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow
- Northern Saw-whet Owl
- Northern Shoveler
- Northern Shrike
- Northern Waterthrush
- Northern Wheatear
- Olive-sided Flycatcher
- Orange-crowned Warbler
- Orchard Oriole
- Osprey
- Ovenbird
- Pacific Golden Plover
- Pacific Loon
- Painted Bunting
- Palm Warbler
- Parasitic Jaeger
- Pectoral Sandpiper
- Peregrine Falcon
- Philadelphia Vireo
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Pine Grosbeak
- Pine Siskin
- Pine Warbler
- Pink-footed Goose
- Piping Plover
- Pomarine Jaeger
- Prairie Warbler
- Prothonotary Warbler
- Purple Finch
- Purple Gallinule
- Purple Martin
- Purple Sandpiper
- Razorbill
- Red Crossbill
- Red Fox Sparrow
- Red Junglefowl
- Red Knot
- Red Phalarope
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Red-billed Tropicbird
- Red-breasted Merganser
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Red-eyed Vireo
- Red-footed Booby
- Red-headed Woodpecker
- Red-necked Grebe
- Red-necked Phalarope
- Red-shouldered Hawk
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Red-throated Loon
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Reddish Egret
- Redhead
- Redpoll
- Redwing
- Ring-billed Gull
- Ring-necked Duck
- Rock Dove
- Rock Ptarmigan
- Rock Wren
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- Roseate Tern
- Ross’s Goose
- Ross’s Gull
- Rough-legged Buzzard
- Royal Tern
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Ruddy Duck
- Ruddy Turnstone
- Ruff
- Ruffed Grouse
- Rufous Hummingbird
- Rusty Blackbird
- Sabine’s Gull
- Saltmarsh Sparrow
- Sand Martin
- Sanderling
- Sandhill Crane
- Sandwich Tern
- Sargasso Shearwater
- Savannah Sparrow
- Say’s Phoebe
- Scarlet Tanager
- Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
- Scopoli’s Shearwater
- Seaside Sparrow
- Sedge Wren
- Semipalmated Plover
- Semipalmated Sandpiper
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
- Shiny Cowbird
- Short-billed Dowitcher
- Short-eared Owl
- Slaty-backed Gull
- Smith’s Longspur
- Snow Bunting
- Snow Goose
- Snowy Egret
- Snowy Owl
- Snowy Plover
- Solitary Sandpiper
- Song Sparrow
- Sooty Shearwater
- Sooty Tern
- Sora
- South Polar Skua
- Spotted Redshank
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Spotted Towhee
- Spruce Grouse
- Steller’s Sea Eagle
- Stilt Sandpiper
- Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher
- Summer Tanager
- Surf Scoter
- Swainson’s Hawk
- Swainson’s Thrush
- Swainson’s Warbler
- Swallow-tailed Kite
- Swamp Sparrow
- Tennessee Warbler
- Thick-billed Murre
- Townsend’s Solitaire
- Townsend’s Warbler
- Tree Swallow
- Tricolored Heron
- Trindade Petrel
- Tropical Kingbird
- Trumpeter Swan
- Tufted Duck
- Tufted Titmouse
- Tundra Bean Goose
- Tundra Swan
- Turkey Vulture
- Two-barred Crossbill
- Upland Sandpiper
- Varied Thrush
- Veery
- Vermilion Flycatcher
- Vesper Sparrow
- Virginia Rail
- Virginia’s Warbler
- Western Cattle Egret
- Western Flycatcher
- Western Grebe
- Western Jackdaw
- Western Kingbird
- Western Meadowlark
- Western Reef Heron
- Western Sandpiper
- Western Tanager
- Western Warbling Vireo
- Western Wood Pewee
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- White-crowned Sparrow
- White-eyed Vireo
- White-faced Ibis
- White-faced Storm Petrel
- White-rumped Sandpiper
- White-tailed Tropicbird
- White-throated Sparrow
- White-winged Dove
- White-winged Scoter
- White-winged Tern
- Wild Turkey
- Willet
- Willow Flycatcher
- Willow Ptarmigan
- Wilson’s Phalarope
- Wilson’s Plover
- Wilson’s Snipe
- Wilson’s Storm Petrel
- Wilson’s Warbler
- Winter Wren
- Wood Duck
- Wood Stork
- Wood Thrush
- Worm-eating Warbler
- Yellow Rail
- Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
- Yellow-billed Cuckoo
- Yellow-breasted Chat
- Yellow-crowned Night Heron
- Yellow-headed Blackbird
- Yellow-throated Vireo
- Yellow-throated Warbler
- Zone-tailed Hawk
More places to explore
Birds of Nova Scotia by bird group
- Ducks, Geese & Swans of Nova Scotia (51 species)
- New World Warblers of Nova Scotia (41 species)
- Sandpipers & Allies of Nova Scotia (39 species)
- Gulls, Terns & Skimmers of Nova Scotia (35 species)
- New World Sparrows of Nova Scotia (29 species)
- Tyrant Flycatchers of Nova Scotia (23 species)
Species lists and counts come from the eBird network; "recorded" means reported by birders to eBird. Tap any bird for its full profile, photos, sounds and ID notes.
Frequently asked questions
How many bird species are in Nova Scotia?
497 species have been recorded in Nova Scotia on eBird; 496 of them have a full profile on Birbs.
Where can I see birds in Nova Scotia right now?
Use the Birds Near You tool to see species reported near you in the last few days, or browse the full checklist on this page.
