Esta lista de aves de Gran Bretaña comprende todas las especies de aves que se han registrado en estado salvaje en Gran Bretaña . Sigue la Lista británica oficial, mantenida por la Unión Británica de Ornitólogos (BOU). [1] Las decisiones relacionadas con la Lista Británica son publicadas por el Comité de Registros de la Unión de Ornitólogos Británicos (BOURC) en sus informes anuales en la revista Ibis de la BOU . Anteriormente, estos informes tenían una base geográfica e incluían la totalidad de las Islas Británicas, pero los registros de la República de Irlanda e Irlanda del Norte ahora los publican sus propias asociaciones ornitológicas. Los registros de la Isla de Man son adjudicados por la Sociedad Ornitológica de Manx. [2]
Las especies de aves admitidas en la Lista británica son aquellas en las categorías BOU A, B o C:
Las aves pueden incluirse en más de una categoría: por ejemplo, el ganso canadiense tiene una gran población introducida, pero también ha habido algunos vagabundos naturales, y el águila de cola blanca es una especie nativa que también está sujeta a una reintroducción continua. proyecto, por lo que ambas especies cumplen con los criterios de las categorías A y C.
Las categorías D y E (no enumeradas aquí) se utilizan únicamente para el mantenimiento de registros y las especies de estas categorías no están incluidas en la Lista británica:
Se está compilando otra categoría (que no figura aquí):
Al 12 de julio de 2024, hay 636 especies de aves en la Lista británica, siendo la última incorporación la reinita canadiense . [4] En un apéndice de la enmienda de diciembre de 2023 se incluyen cinco grupos de especies (aves que no fueron identificadas a nivel de especie): petrel gigante del sur/del norte ( Macronectes giganteus/halli ), petrel de Fea/Desertas ( Pterodroma feae/desertas ), petrel de tormenta de vientre negro/vientre blanco ( Fregetta tropica/grallaria ), skúa parda/polar del sur ( Stercorarius antarctica/maccormickii ) y cogujada asiática/mediterránea/de Turquestán ( Alaudala cheleensis/rufescens/heinei ). Varias especies adicionales están esperando la consideración del Comité de Registros de la Unión de Ornitólogos Británicos .
Las especies enumeradas en esta página como "raras" son aquellas para las cuales se requiere una descripción completa para la aceptación del registro por parte del Comité Británico de Rarezas de Aves . Otras especies tienen una indicación de su estado de reproducción e invernada en Gran Bretaña.
En general, la avifauna de Gran Bretaña es similar a la del resto de Europa. Debido a sus inviernos suaves, Gran Bretaña tiene una población considerable de especies invernantes, particularmente patos , gansos y cisnes . También hay una serie de especies, como el ostrero , que residen en la isla de Gran Bretaña, pero migran a otros lugares. Gran Bretaña recibe numerosos vagabundos de Asia y América del Norte. Algunas gaviotas , patos y aves zancudas americanas son lo suficientemente regulares como para no considerarse raras, incluidas la gaviota de pico anillado , el negrón surfista y el correlimos pectoral . Hay una especie de ave endémica que se encuentra en Gran Bretaña: el piquituerto escocés .
Orden: Anseriformes Familia: Anatidae
Los cisnes, patos y gansos son aves de tamaño mediano a grande, adaptadas a la existencia acuática, con patas palmeadas y pico en mayor o menor medida aplanado. En muchos patos, el macho es colorido mientras que la hembra es de color marrón opaco. La dieta se compone de una variedad de animales y plantas. La familia está bien representada en Gran Bretaña, especialmente en invierno, cuando un gran número de personas la visitan desde Groenlandia , Escandinavia y Rusia .
Orden: Galliformes Familia: Phasianidae
Se trata de especies terrestres que se alimentan y anidan en el suelo. Son de tamaño variable pero generalmente regordetes, con alas anchas y relativamente cortas. Cuatro de ellos fueron introducidos con fines de caza u ornamentales, pero dos ya se han extinguido.
Orden: Caprimulgiformes Familia: Caprimulgidae
Los chotacabras son aves nocturnas de tamaño mediano que suelen anidar en el suelo. Tienen alas largas, patas cortas y picos muy cortos. Su suave plumaje tiene un color críptico que recuerda a la corteza o las hojas.
Orden: Apodiformes Familia: Apodidae Los vencejos son pequeños pájaros que pasan la mayor parte de su vida volando. Estas aves tienen patas muy cortas y nunca se posan voluntariamente en el suelo, sino que se posan únicamente en superficies verticales.
Orden: Otidiformes Familia: Otididae
Aves grandes y robustas de llanuras abiertas con patas y cuellos largos y patas fuertes. Son todas rarezas.
Orden: Cuculiformes Familia: Cuculidae
Aves de tamaño variable con cuerpos esbeltos y colas largas. Algunas especies son conocidas por poner sus huevos en los nidos de otras aves.
Orden: Pterocliformes Familia: Pteroclidae
Aves robustas, de tamaño mediano, con cabeza pequeña y alas largas y puntiagudas.
Orden: Columbiformes Familia: Columbidae
Las palomas y las palomas son aves de cuerpo robusto con cuello corto y pico corto y delgado con una cera carnosa . Hay 344 especies en todo el mundo, siete en Gran Bretaña.
Orden: Gruiformes Familia: Rallidae
Estas aves ocupan principalmente una vegetación densa en ambientes húmedos cerca de lagos, marismas o ríos. Muchas son aves tímidas y reservadas, lo que las hace difíciles de observar. La mayoría de las especies tienen patas fuertes y dedos largos que se adaptan bien a superficies blandas e irregulares.
Orden: Gruiformes Familia: Gruidae
Las grullas son aves grandes, de patas y cuello largos. A diferencia de las garzas de apariencia similar pero no relacionadas, las grullas vuelan con el cuello extendido, no hacia atrás. La mayoría tiene exhibiciones de cortejo o "bailes" elaborados y ruidosos.
Orden: Podicipediformes Familia: Podicipedidae
Los zampullines son aves buceadoras de tamaño pequeño a mediano y grande con dedos lobulados y pico puntiagudo. Se ven principalmente en aguas de tierras bajas y costas. Se alimentan de animales acuáticos y anidan en una plataforma flotante de vegetación.
Orden: Charadriiformes Familia: Burhinidae
Una pequeña familia de aves zancudas de tamaño mediano a grande con fuertes picos negros, grandes ojos amarillos y plumaje críptico.
Orden: Charadriiformes Familia: Haematopodidae
Los ostreros son aves zancudas grandes, evidentes y ruidosas, con picos fuertes que utilizan para aplastar o abrir moluscos . Hay once especies en todo el mundo y una en Gran Bretaña.
Orden: Charadriiformes Familia: Recurvirostridae
Familia de aves zancudas bastante grandes. Las avocetas tienen patas largas y picos largos y curvados hacia arriba. Los zancos tienen patas extremadamente largas y picos largos, delgados y rectos. Hay diez especies en todo el mundo y dos en Gran Bretaña.
Orden: Charadriiformes Familia: Charadriidae
Aves zancudas de tamaño pequeño a mediano con cuerpo compacto, cuello corto y grueso y alas largas, generalmente puntiagudas.
Orden: Charadriiformes Familia: Scolopacidae
Una familia numerosa y diversa de aves zancudas. Las diferentes longitudes de patas y picos permiten que múltiples especies se alimenten en el mismo hábitat, particularmente en la costa, sin competencia directa por el alimento.
Orden: Charadriiformes Familia: Glareolidae
Familia de aves zancudas esbeltas y de alas largas.
Orden: Charadriiformes Familia: Laridae
Aves marinas de tamaño mediano a grande con plumaje gris, blanco y negro, patas palmeadas y pico fuerte. Muchos son alimentadores oportunistas y adaptables.
Orden: Charadriiformes Familia: Stercorariidae
Aves marinas de tamaño mediano a grande con plumaje principalmente gris o marrón, garras afiladas y una punta en forma de gancho en el pico. Persiguen a otras aves marinas para obligarlas a soltar sus capturas.
Orden: Charadriiformes Familia: Alcidae
Familia de aves marinas que se parecen superficialmente a los pingüinos , con sus colores blanco y negro, su postura erguida y algunos de sus hábitos, pero que pueden volar.
Order: Phaethontiformes Family: Phaethontidae
Tropicbirds are slender white birds of tropical oceans, with exceptionally long central tail feathers. Their heads and long wings have black markings.
Order: Gaviiformes Family: Gaviidae
Divers are aquatic birds the size of a large duck, to which they are unrelated. They swim well and fly adequately but are almost helpless on land, because their legs are placed towards the rear of the body. They feed on fish and other aquatic animals.
Order: Procellariiformes Family: Oceanitidae
The southern storm petrels are the smallest seabirds, feeding on plankton and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering. They nest in colonies on the ground, most often in burrows.
Order: Procellariiformes Family: Diomedeidae
The albatrosses are among the largest flying birds, with long, narrow wings for gliding. The majority are found in the Southern Hemisphere with only vagrants occurring in the North Atlantic.
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. They nest in colonies on the ground, most often in burrows.
Order: Procellariiformes Family: Procellariidae
These are highly pelagic birds with long, narrow wings and tube-shaped nostrils. They feed at sea on fish, squid and other marine life. They come to land to breed in colonies, nesting in burrows or on cliffs.
Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ciconiidae
Storks are large, heavy, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long stout bills and wide wingspans. They fly with the neck extended.
Order: Suliformes Family: Fregatidae
Frigatebirds are large seabirds usually found over tropical oceans. They are large, black-and-white, or completely black, with long wings and deeply forked tails. The males have colored inflatable throat pouches. They do not swim or walk and cannot take off from a flat surface. Having the largest wingspan-to-body-weight ratio of any bird, they are essentially aerial, able to stay aloft for more than a week.
Order: Suliformes Family: Sulidae
Gannets are large seabirds that plunge-dive for fish and nest in large colonies. They have a torpedo-shaped body, long, narrow, pointed wings and a fairly long tail. There are ten species worldwide with three in Britain.
Order: Suliformes Family: Phalacrocoracidae
Cormorants are medium to large aquatic birds with mainly dark plumage and areas of coloured skin on the face. The bill is long, thin and sharply hooked for catching fish and aquatic invertebrates. They nest in colonies by water, usually by the sea or on the banks of rivers.
Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Threskiornithidae
A family of long-legged, long-necked wading birds. Ibises have long, curved bills. Spoonbils have a flattened bill, wider at the tip.
Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Ardeidae
Herons and egrets are medium to large wading birds with long necks and legs. Bitterns tend to be shorter-necked and more secretive. They all fly with their necks retracted. The sharp bill is used to catch fish, amphibians and other animals. Many species nest in colonies, often in trees. There are 64 species worldwide and 15 in Britain.
Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Pelecanidae
Pelicans are large water birds with a distinctive pouch under their beak. As with other members of the order Pelecaniformes, they have webbed feet with four toes.
Order: Accipitriformes Family: Pandionidae
A large fish-eating bird of prey belonging to a family of its own. It is mainly brown above and white below with long, angled wings.
Order: Accipitriformes Family: Accipitridae
A family of birds of prey which includes hawks, buzzards, eagles, kites and harriers. These birds have very large powerful hooked beaks for tearing flesh from their prey, strong legs, powerful talons and keen eyesight.
Order: Strigiformes Family: Tytonidae
Barn owls are medium to large owls with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. They have long strong legs with powerful talons.
Order: Strigiformes Family: Strigidae
Typical owls are small to large solitary nocturnal birds of prey. They have large forward-facing eyes and ears, a hawk-like beak and a conspicuous circle of feathers around each eye called a facial disc.
Order: Bucerotiformes Family: Upupidae
A small family with a long curved bills, crests and black-and-white striped wings and tails.
Order: Coraciiformes Family: Coraciidae
A small family of colourful, medium-sized birds with a crow-like shape that feed mainly on insects.
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. Many woodpeckers have the habit of tapping noisily on tree trunks with their beaks.
Order: Falconiformes Family: Falconidae
A family of small to medium-sized, diurnal birds of prey with pointed wings. They do not build their own nests and mainly catch prey in the air.
Order: Psittaciformes Family: Psittaculidae
Parrots are small to large birds with a characteristic curved beak shape. They are found mainly in areas with warm climates.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Tyrannidae
A large family from the Americas.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Laniidae
Shrikes are passerine birds known for their habit of catching other birds and small animals and impaling the uneaten portions of their bodies on thorns. A typical shrike's beak is hooked, like a bird of prey.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Vireonidae
The vireos are a group of small to medium-sized passerine birds restricted to the New World.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Oriolidae
The orioles are medium-sized passerines, mostly with bright and showy plumage, the females often have duller plumage than the males The beak is long, slightly curved and hooked. Orioles are arboreal and tend to feed in the canopy. There are 36 species worldwide, one of which has been recorded in Great Britain.
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. They are adaptable birds, with a mixed diet including seeds and insects.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Remizidae
Small birds with finely pointed bills that build purse-like nests hanging from a branch.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Panuridae
A single species formerly placed in the family Sylviidae.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Alaudidae
Larks are small terrestrial birds with often extravagant songs and display flights. Most larks are fairly dull in appearance. Their food is insects and seeds.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Hirundinidae
The family Hirundinidae is adapted to aerial feeding. They have a slender streamlined body, long pointed wings and a short bill with a wide gape.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Cettiidae
A recently split family formerly placed in the Sylviidae family. There are 32 species worldwide, with one found in Britain.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Aegithalidae
Small, long-tailed birds that typically live in flocks for much of the year. There are 13 species worldwide with one in Britain.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Phylloscopidae
A recently split family of small insectivorous birds, formerly included within the Sylviidae. There are 81 species, with 16 in Britain.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Acrocephalidae
A small, insectivorous and vocal group of species, formerly included within the family Sylviidae.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Locustellidae
A recently split family, previously part of the family Sylviidae.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Cisticolidae
A group of insectivorous species, previously included within the family Sylviidae.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Sylviidae
A group of small insectivorous birds.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Regulidae
A family of very small birds.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Troglodytidae
Wrens are small and inconspicuous birds, except for their loud songs. They have short wings and thin down-turned bills.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Sittidae
Nuthatches are small woodland birds with the unusual ability to climb down trees head-first, unlike other birds which can only go upwards.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Tichodromadidae
One species, in its own family, a rare visitor to Britain.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Certhiidae
Treecreepers are small woodland birds, brown above and white below. They have thin, pointed, down-curved bills, which they use to extricate insects from bark.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Mimidae
Medium-sized passerine birds with long tails. Some are notable for their ability to mimic sounds such as other birds' songs.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Sturnidae
Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds with strong feet. Their flight is strong and direct and most are very gregarious.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Turdidae
The thrushes are plump, soft-plumaged, small to medium-sized insectivores or sometimes omnivores, often feeding on the ground. Many have attractive songs.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Muscicapidae. Subfamily: Muscicapinae
The flycatchers and chats are small, mainly insectivorous birds. The flycatchers fly out from a perch to catch insects in the air.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Cinclidae
Dark, dumpy, aquatic birds which are able to forage for food on the beds of rivers.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Passeridae
Sparrows tend to be small, plump, brownish or greyish birds with short tails and short, powerful beaks. They are seed-eaters and they also consume small insects.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Prunellidae
A small family of drab, unobtrusive, insectivorous birds with thin, pointed bills.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Motacillidae
Motacillidae is a family of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. They are slender, ground-feeding insectivores of open country.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Fringillidae
Seed-eating passerine birds that are small to moderately large and have a strong beak, usually conical and in some species very large.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Calcariidae
A small family of migratory seed eating birds.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Emberizidae. A large group of seed-eating passerine birds with a distinctively shaped bill.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Passerellidae.
A seed eating group of species, recently split from the family Emberizidae.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Icteridae.
The icterids are a group of small to medium-sized, often colorful passerine birds restricted to the New World and include the grackles, New World blackbirds, and New World orioles. Most species have black as a predominant plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange, or red.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Parulidae
A group of small, often colourful passerine birds restricted to the New World. Most are arboreal and insectivorous.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Cardinalidae
The cardinals are a family of robust, seed-eating birds with strong bills. They are typically associated with open woodland. The sexes usually have distinct plumages.
The links above lead to family accounts and individual species. Taxonomy is very fluid in the age of DNA analysis, so other arrangements may be found, as in Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy.
The following species have been recorded recently and the British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee has not yet made a decision on whether to accept them onto the British List.
...including a small number of breeding pairs along the south coast