The Folkestone & Hythe area bird list currently stands at 303 species.
The list is based on the sequence, taxonomy and vernacular names contained within the International Ornithological Congress (IOC) World Bird List, as adopted by the British Ornithologists’ Union from the 1st January 2018.
This first section contains all category A, B and C species, defined as follows:
Category A: species recorded locally in an apparently natural state at least once since 1 January 1950.
Category B: species recorded locally in an apparently natural state at least once between 1800 and 1949, but have not been recorded subsequently.
Category C1: naturalised introduced: species that have occurred only as a result of introduction, e.g. Egyptian Goose.
Category C2: naturalised established: species with established populations resulting from introduction, but also occur in an apparently natural state, e.g. Greylag Goose.
Category C3: naturalised re-established: species with populations successfully re-established in areas of former occurrence, e.g. Red Kite.
Category C4: naturalised feral: domesticated species with populations established in the wild, e.g. Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon.
Category C5: vagrant naturalised: species from established naturalised populations abroad. There are currently no species in category C5 that have occurred in Britain.
Category C6: former naturalised: species formerly placed in C1 whose naturalised populations are either no longer self-sustaining or are considered extinct..
The status for each species is defined as follows:
Very rare: has occurred locally on between one and 15 occasions.
Rare: has occurred locally on between 16 and 50 occasions.
Scarce: has occurred locally on more than 50 occasions but on less than ten occasions per year on average.
The species accounts cover all records received up until the end of 2023, with those for very rare and rare species being updated more regularly.
1. Red-legged Partridge
2. Grey Partridge
3. Quail
4. Pheasant
5. Brent Goose
6. Canada Goose
7. Barnacle Goose
8. Snow Goose
9. Greylag Goose
10. Pink-footed Goose
11. Tundra Bean Goose
12. White-fronted Goose
13. Mute Swan
14. Bewick’s Swan
15. Whooper Swan
16. Egyptian Goose
17. Shelduck
18. Mandarin Duck
19. Garganey
20. Shoveler
21. Gadwall
22. Wigeon
23. Mallard
24. Pintail
25. Teal
26. Pochard
27. Tufted Duck
28. Scaup
29. Eider
30. Velvet Scoter
31. Common Scoter
32. Long-tailed Duck
33. Goldeneye
34. Smew
35. Goosander
36. Red-breasted Merganser
37. Ruddy Duck
38. Nightjar
39. Alpine Swift
40. Swift
41. Pallid Swift
42. Cuckoo
43. Feral Pigeon
44. Stock Dove
45. Woodpigeon
46. Turtle Dove
47. Collared Dove
48. Water Rail
49. Corncrake
50. Baillon’s Crake
51. Spotted Crake
52. Moorhen
53. Coot
54. Crane
55. Little Grebe
56. Red-necked Grebe
57. Great Crested Grebe
58. Slavonian Grebe
59. Black-necked Grebe
60. Stone Curlew
61. Oystercatcher
62. Black-winged Stilt
63. Avocet
64. Lapwing
65. Golden Plover
66. Grey Plover
67. Ringed Plover
68. Little Ringed Plover
69. Dotterel
70. Whimbrel
71. Curlew
72. Bar-tailed Godwit
73. Black-tailed Godwit
74. Turnstone
75. Knot
76. Ruff
77. Curlew Sandpiper
78. Temminck’s Stint
79. Sanderling
80. Dunlin
81. Purple Sandpiper
82. Little Stint
83. Woodcock
84. Jack Snipe
85. Snipe
86. Red-necked Phalarope
87. Grey Phalarope
88. Common Sandpiper
89. Green Sandpiper
90. Redshank
91. Wood Sandpiper
92. Spotted Redshank
93. Greenshank
94. Collared Pratincole
95. Kittiwake
96. Sabine’s Gull
97. Black-headed Gull
98. Little Gull
99. Mediterranean Gull
100. Common Gull
101. Ring-billed Gull
102. Great Black-backed Gull
103. Glaucous Gull
104. Iceland Gull
105. Herring Gull
106. Caspian Gull
107. Yellow-legged Gull
108. Lesser Black-backed Gull
109. Gull-billed Tern
110. Caspian Tern
111. Lesser Crested Tern
112. Sandwich Tern
113. Little Tern
114. Roseate Tern
115. Common Tern
116. Arctic Tern
117. Forster’s Tern
118. White-winged Black Tern
119. Black Tern
120. Great Skua
121. Pomarine Skua
122. Arctic Skua
123. Long-tailed Skua
124. Little Auk
125. Guillemot
126. Razorbill
127. Puffin
128. Red-throated Diver
129. Black-throated Diver
130. Great Northern Diver
131. Storm Petrel
132. Leach’s Petrel
133. Fulmar
134. Cory’s Shearwater
135. Sooty Shearwater
136. Manx Shearwater
137. Balearic Shearwater
138. Black Stork
139. White Stork
140. Gannet
141. Shag
142. Cormorant
143. Glossy Ibis
144. Spoonbill
145. Bittern
146. Night Heron
147. Green Heron
148. Squacco Heron
149. Chinese Pond Heron
150. Cattle Egret
151. Grey Heron
152. Purple Heron
153. Great White Egret
154. Little Egret
155. Osprey
156. Honey Buzzard
157. Sparrowhawk
158. Goshawk
159. Marsh Harrier
160. Hen Harrier
161. Montagu’s Harrier
162. Red Kite
163. Black Kite
164. White-tailed Eagle
165. Rough-legged Buzzard
166. Buzzard
167. Barn Owl
168. Tawny Owl
169. Little Owl
170. Long-eared Owl
171. Short-eared Owl
172. Hoopoe
173. Kingfisher
174. Blue-cheeked Bee-eater
175. Bee-eater
176. Wryneck
177. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
178. Great Spotted Woodpecker
179. Green Woodpecker
180. Kestrel
181. Red-footed Falcon
182. Merlin
183. Hobby
184. Gyr Falcon
185. Peregrine
186. Ring-necked Parakeet
187. Red-backed Shrike
188. Great Grey Shrike
189. Woodchat Shrike
190. Golden Oriole
191. Jay
192. Magpie
193. Jackdaw
194. Rook
195. Carrion Crow
196. Hooded Crow
197. Raven
198. Waxwing
199. Coal Tit
200. Marsh Tit
201. Willow Tit
202. Blue Tit
203. Great Tit
204. Bearded Tit
205. Woodlark
206. Skylark
207. Shore Lark
208. Sand Martin
209. Swallow
210. House Martin
211. Red-rumped Swallow
212. Cetti’s Warbler
213. Long-tailed Tit
214. Wood Warbler
215. Yellow-browed Warbler
216. Pallas’s Warbler
217. Dusky Warbler
218. Willow Warbler
219. Chiffchaff
220. Greenish Warbler
221. Arctic Warbler
222. Sedge Warbler
223. Reed Warbler
224. Marsh Warbler
225. Booted Warbler
226. Melodious Warbler
227. Icterine Warbler
228. Grasshopper Warbler
229. Blackcap
230. Garden Warbler
231. Barred Warbler
232. Lesser Whitethroat
233. Asian Desert Warbler
234. Whitethroat
235. Dartford Warbler
236. Firecrest
237. Goldcrest
238. Wren
239. Nuthatch
240. Treecreeper
241. Short-toed Treecreeper
242. Rose-coloured Starling
243. Starling
244. Ring Ouzel
245. Blackbird
246. Fieldfare
247. Redwing
248. Song Thrush
249. Mistle Thrush
250. Spotted Flycatcher
251. Robin
252. Bluethroat
253. Thrush Nightingale
254. Nightingale
255. Pied Flycatcher
256. Red-breasted Flycatcher
257. Black Redstart
258. Redstart
259. Whinchat
260. Stonechat
261. Wheatear
262. Isabelline Wheatear
263. Desert Wheatear
264. Dipper
265. House Sparrow
266. Tree Sparrow
267. Dunnock
268. Yellow Wagtail
269. Grey Wagtail
270. Pied Wagtail
271. Richard’s Pipit
272. Tawny Pipit
273. Meadow Pipit
274. Tree Pipit
275. Olive-backed Pipit
276. Water Pipit
277. Rock Pipit
278. Chaffinch
279. Brambling
280. Hawfinch
281. Bullfinch
282. Common Rosefinch
283. Greenfinch
284. Twite
285. Linnet
286. Common Redpoll
287. Lesser Redpoll
288. Crossbill
289. Goldfinch
290. Serin
291. Siskin
292. Lapland Bunting
293. Snow Bunting
294. Corn Bunting
295. Yellowhammer
296. Ortolan Bunting
297. Cirl Bunting
298. Reed Bunting
299. Dark-eyed Junco
This second section contains the most recent additions to category A:
300. Crag Martin
301. Black Guillemot
302. Pallid Harrier
303. Hume’s Warbler
This third section contains all category D species, defined as follows:
Category D: species that would otherwise appear in category A except that there is reasonable doubt that they have ever occurred in a natural state.
D01. Bufflehead
D02. Great White Pelican
This fourth section contains records that could only be assigned to species pairs or groups:
S01. Eastern Subalpine/Western Subalpine/Moltoni’s Warbler
S02. Western Black-eared/Eastern Black-eared/Pied Wheatear
S03. Siberian/Stejneger’s Stonechat
This fifth section contains species that are no longer accepted:
N01. – Band-rumped/Monteiro’s/Cape Verde Storm-petrel
N02. – Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin