List of North American vagrant birds in Britain

__NOTOC__ Many species of North American birds have been recorded in Great Britain as vagrants. Most occur in autumn; southwest England attracts the greatest proportion, but northern and western Scotland comes a close second. Occasionally birds overwinter, and some species (e.g. Baltimore oriole) are more prone to this than others. Vagrancy also occurs in spring, and some species (e.g. white-throated sparrow and dark-eyed junco) do in fact have more records at this time than in autumn. Weather systems are thought to be the primary reason for the occurrence of birds in autumn; some birds seen in spring may simply be overshoots, although ship-assistance may also play a part.

Species list The following species have been recorded, and accepted as wild by the British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee:

Species Binomial name Date of first record Location of first record Number of records (2022) Reference(s) Photo of Vagrant in BritainCackling gooseBranta hutchinsiiNovember 1976Plex Moss/Formby Moss, Lancashire52Ross's gooseAnser rossiiDecember 1970Plex Moss, Lancashire1Blue-winged tealSpatula discors1858Nithsdale, Dumfries & GallowayRegular vagrantAmerican wigeonMareca americana3 January 1907Benbecula, Outer HebridesExtremely regular vagrantAmerican black duckAnas rubripesMarch 1967Stoke, Kent41CanvasbackAythya valisineriaDecember 1996Cliffe, Kent7RedheadAythya americanaMarch 1996Bleasby, Nottinghamshire1Lesser scaupAythya affinisMarch 1987Chasewater, StaffordshireRegular vagrantKing eiderSomateria spectabilis1832OrkneyRegular vagrantSteller's eiderPolysticta stelleriFebruary 1830Caister, Norfolk15Harlequin duckHistrionicus histrionicus1862Filey, North Yorkshire20White-winged scoterMelanitta deglandiJune 2011Blackdog, Aberdeenshire4Black scoterMelanitta americanaDecember 1987Gosford Bay, Lothian14BuffleheadBucephala albeolaJanuary 1920Tresco, Isles of Scilly17Barrow's goldeneyeBucephala islandicaNovember 1979Irvine, Ayrshire3Hooded merganserLophodytes cucullatusOctober 2000North Uist, Outer Hebrides12Common nighthawkChordeiles minor1927Tresco, Isles of Scilly22Chimney swiftChaetura pelagica21 October 1982Porthgwarra, Cornwall20Yellow-billed cuckooCoccyzus americanusca. 1835Cornwall66Black-billed cuckooCoccyzus erythropthalmus1932Isles of Scilly16Mourning doveZenaida macrouraNovember 1999North Uist, Outer Hebrides5SoraPorzana carolinaOctober 1864Newbury, Berkshire20American cootFulica americanaApril 1996Stodmarsh, Kent9Purple gallinulePorphyrio martinicaNovember 1958St Mary's, Isles of Scilly3Sandhill craneAntigone canadensisApril 1981Fair Isle, Shetland4Pied-billed grebePodilymbus podicepsDecember 1963Blagdon Lake, Avon45Red-necked grebe (New World subspecies holbollii)Podiceps grisegena holbolliiSeptember 1925Gruinard Bay, Wester Ross, Highland1 (+ 1 in 2024)American golden ploverPluvialis dominica3 August 1883Mouth of River Almond, PerthExtremely regular vagrantSemipalmated ploverCharadrius semipalmatusOctober 1978St Agnes, Isles of Scilly4KilldeerCharadrius vociferusApril 1859Christchurch, Dorset59Upland sandpiperBartramia longicaudaOctober 1851Compton Verney, Warwickshire47Hudsonian whimbrelNumenius hudsonicusMay 1955Fair Isle, Shetland10Eskimo curlewNumenius borealisSeptember 1855Cairn Mon Earn, Aberdeenshire4 (last in 1887, species likely extinct)Hudsonian godwitLimosa haemasticaSeptember 1981Blacktoft Sands, East Yorkshire3Stilt sandpiperCalidris himantopusAugust 1954Kilnsea, East Yorkshire38Baird's sandpiperCalidris bairdiiSeptember 1911St Kilda, Outer HebridesRegular vagrantLeast sandpiperCalidris minutillaOctober 1853Marazion, Cornwall41Semipalmated sandpiperCalidris pusillaJuly 1953Cley next the Sea, NorfolkRegular vagrantWestern sandpiperCalidris mauriAugust 1969Tresco, Isles of Scilly10Long-billed dowitcherLimnodromus scolopaceusOctober 1801DevonRegular vagrantShort-billed dowitcherLimnodromus griseusSeptember 1999Rosehearty, Aberdeenshire4Wilson's snipeGallinago delicataOctober 1998St Mary's, Isles of Scilly10Wilson's phalaropePhalaropus tricolorOctober 1954Rosyth, FifeRegular vagrantSpotted sandpiperActitis maculariusJune 1924Loe Bar, CornwallRegular vagrantSolitary sandpiperTringa solitariapre-1870River Clyde, South Lanarkshire37Greater yellowlegsTringa melanoleucaSeptember 1906Tresco, Isles of Scilly34Ivory gullPagophila eburneaDecember 1822Unst, ShetlandRegular vagrantBonaparte's gullChroicocephalus philadelphiaApril 1850Loch Lomond, ClydeRegular vagrantRoss's gullRhodostethia roseaApril 1936between Whalsay and Out Skerries, ShetlandRegular vagrantLaughing gullLeucophaeus atricillaJuly 1923Eastbourne, SussexRegular vagrantFranklin's gullLeucophaeus pipixcanFebruary 1970Farlington Marshes, Hampshire80Glaucous-winged gullLarus glaucescensDecember 2006Hempsted, Gloucestershire3American herring gullLarus smithsonianusFebruary 1994Ashton's Flashes, Cheshire33Royal ternThalasseus maximusNovember 1979Kenfig, Mid Glamorgan1Cabot's ternThalasseus acuflavidusNovember 1984Aston Ingham, Herefordshire1Elegant ternThalasseus elegansMay 2002Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve, Devon4Least ternSternula antillarumJune 1983Rye Harbour, Sussex1 (Male which returned annually, through 1992)Aleutian ternOnychoprion aleuticusMay 1979Farne Islands, Northumberland1Bridled ternOnychoprion anaethetusNovember 1931Dungeness, Kent25Sooty ternOnychoprion fuscatusOctober 1852Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire23Forster's ternSterna forsteriFebruary 1980Falmouth Bay, Cornwall21Black tern (subspecies surinamensis)Chlidonias niger surinamensisOctober 1999Axe Estuary, Avon/Somerset6Ancient murreletSynthliboramphus antiquusMay 1990Lundy, Devon1 (Returned 1991, 1992)Tufted puffinFratercula cirrhataSeptember 2009Oare Marshes, Kent1Red-billed tropicbirdPhaethon aethereusJune 2001off Isles of Scilly5Pacific diver (Pacific loon)Gavia pacificaJanuary 2007Farnham, North Yorkshire9Black-capped petrelPterodroma hasitataMarch/April 1850Swaffham, Norfolk2Magnificent frigatebirdFregata magnificensNovember 2005Whitchurch, Shropshire2Red-footed boobySula sulaSeptember 2016St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex1Brown boobySula leucogasterAugust 2019Swalecliffe, Kent1Double-crested cormorantNannopterum auritumJanuary 1989Billingham, County Durham1American bitternBotaurus lentiginosus1804Puddletown, Dorset39Least bitternBotaurus exilisOctober 2022Loch of Spiggie, Shetland1Green heronButorides virescensOctober 1889St Austell, Cornwall8Great blue heronArdea herodiasDecember 2007St Mary's, Isles of Scilly2Snowy egretEgretta thulaNovember 2001Seil Island, Argyll1Northern harrierCircus hudsoniusOctober 1982St Mary's, Isles of Scilly10Northern hawk-owl (New World subspecies caparoch)Surnia ulula caparochMarch 1830off coast of Cornwall1Snowy owlBubo scandiacus1812Unst, ShetlandRegular vagrantBelted kingfisherMegaceryle alcyon1908Sladesbridge, Cornwall4Yellow-bellied sapsuckerSphyrapicus varius26 September 1975Isles of Scilly1American kestrelFalco sparveriusMay 1976Fair Isle2Eastern phoebeSayornis phoebeApril 1987Lundy, Devon1Yellow-bellied flycatcherEmpidonax flaviventrisSeptember 2020Tiree, Argyll1Acadian flycatcherEmpidonax virescensSeptember 2015Dungeness, Kent1Alder flycatcherEmpidonax alnorumOctober 2008Nanjizal, Cornwall2Eastern kingbirdTyrannus tyrannusSeptember 2016Outer Hebrides1Red-eyed vireoVireo olivaceusOctober 1962St Agnes, Isles of ScillyRegular vagrantPhiladelphia vireoVireo philadelphicusOctober 1987Tresco, Isles of Scilly1Yellow-throated vireoVireo flavifronsOctober 1987Kenidjack Valley, Cornwall1Cedar waxwingBombycilla cedrorum25 June 1985Isle of Noss, Shetland7Purple martinProgne subis5 September 2004Butt of Lewis, Outer Hebrides1Cliff swallowPetrochelidon pyrrhonota10 October 1983St Agnes, Isles of Scilly12Tree swallowTachycineta bicolor6 June 1990Porth Hellick, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly2Ruby-crowned kingletCorthylio calendulaNovember 2020Barra, Outer Hebrides1Red-breasted nuthatchSitta canadensisOctober 1989Holkham, Norfolk1Grey catbirdDumetella carolinensis2001Holy Island, Anglesey1Northern mockingbirdMimus polyglottos1982Saltash, Cornwall2Brown thrasherToxostoma rufumNovember 1966Durlston Head, Dorset1American robinTurdus migratorius27 October 1952Lundy, Devon28Varied thrushIxoreus naevius14 November 1982Nanquidno, Cornwall1VeeryCatharus fuscescens6 October 1970Porthgwarra, Cornwall11Grey-cheeked thrushCatharus minimus5 October 1953Fair Isle, Shetland66Swainson's thrushCatharus ustulatus14 October 1967Skokholm Island, Wales41Hermit thrushCatharus guttatus2 June 1975Fair Isle, Shetland12Wood thrushHylocichla mustelina7 October 1987St Agnes, Isles of Scilly 1American pipit (Buff-bellied pipit)Anthus rubescens1910St Kilda, Outer Hebrides45Evening grosbeakHesperiphona vespertina26 March 1969St Kilda, Outer Hebrides2Pine grosbeakPinicola enucleatorbefore 1831Pelaw, Durham12Lark sparrowChondestes grammacusJune 1981Landguard Common, Suffolk2Dark-eyed juncoJunco hyemalisMay 1960Dungeness, Kent45White-crowned sparrowZonotrichia leucophrysMay 1977Fair Isle, Shetland9White-throated sparrowZonotrichia albicollisJanuary 1893Hull, East Yorkshire50Savannah sparrowPasserculus sandwichensisApril 1982Isle of Portland, Dorset3Song sparrowMelospiza melodiaApril 1959Fair Isle, Shetland8Eastern towheePipilo erythrophthalmusJune 1966Lundy, Devon1BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus September 1962St Agnes, Isles of Scilly32Baltimore orioleIcterus galbulaSeptember 1980Unst, Shetland26Red-winged blackbirdAgelaius phoeniceusApril 2017North Ronaldsay, Orkney1Brown-headed cowbirdMolothrus aterApril 1988Islay, Inner Hebrides5OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapillaOctober 1973Out Skerries, Shetland6Northern waterthrushParkesia noveboracensisOctober 1958St Agnes, Isles of Scilly7Golden-winged warblerVermivora chrysopteraJanuary 1989Maidstone, Kent1Black-and-white warblerMniotilta variaOctober 1936Scalloway, Shetland14Tennessee warblerLeiothlypis peregrinaSeptember 1975Fair Isle, Shetland4Common yellowthroatGeothlypis trichasNovember 1954Lundy, Devon10Hooded warblerSetophaga citrinaSeptember 1970St Agnes, Isles of Scilly2American redstartSetophaga ruticillaOctober 1967Porthgwarra, Cornwall6Cape May warblerSetophaga tigrinaJune 1977Paisley, Renfrewshire2Northern parulaSetophaga americanaOctober 1966Tresco, Isles of Scilly15Magnolia warblerSetophaga magnoliaSeptember 1981St Agnes, Isles of Scilly2Bay-breasted warblerSetophaga castaneaOctober 1995Land's End, Cornwall1Blackburnian warblerSetophaga fuscaOctober 1961Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire3American yellow warblerSetophaga aestivaAugust 1964Bardsey Island, Gwynedd6Chestnut-sided warblerSetophaga pensylvanicaSeptember 1985Fetlar, Shetland2Blackpoll warblerSetophaga striataOctober 1968St Agnes, Isles of Scilly48Yellow-rumped warblerSetophaga coronataJanuary 1955Newton St Cyres, Devon22Wilson's warblerCardellina pusillaOctober 1985Rame Head, Cornwall2Scarlet tanagerPiranga olivacea4 October 1970St Mary's, Isles of Scilly7 Summer TanagerPiranga rubra11 September 1957Bardsey Island, Wales1Rose-breasted grosbeakPheucticus ludovicianusOctober 1966St. Agnes, Isles of Scilly29Indigo buntingPasserina cyaneaOctober 1966Ramsey Island, Pembrokeshire2

Controversial species The following North American species have been recorded, but not accepted as wild by the BOU (i.e., Category D species): Wood duck (Aix sponsa) Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) Yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus)

Confirmed vagrants likely not from North America The following species have ranges in North America or surrounding waters, but the vagrant individuals recorded in Britain likely did not originate in North America.