Birds of Iran

Iran is home to about 600 species of birds. These birds thrive in the arid weather of the country, which is the fourth largest in the world.

The national bird of Iran is the Common Nightingale. Other notable species include the Iranian Ground Jay and the Caspian Tit.

List of Common Birds Found in Iran

Native Birds

Barn Swallow
Basra Reed Warbler
Black Francolin
Black-headed Bunting
Black-headed Penduline Tit
Black Kite
Caspian Gull
Caspian Snowcock
Caspian Tit
Cinereous Bunting
Common Chaffinch
Common Chiffchaff
Common Hoopoe
Common Kingfisher
Common Myna
Common Nightingale
Common Redstart
Common Rosefinch
Common Stonechat
Corn Bunting
Crested Lark
Dalmatian Pelican
Desert Wheatear
Eastern Imperial Eagle
Eastern Rock Nuthatch
Eurasian Blackbird
Eurasian Collared Dove
Eurasian Coot
Eurasian Crag Martin
Eurasian Hoopoe
Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Kestrel
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Skylark
Eurasian Spoonbill
Eurasian Wryneck
European Bee-eater
European Goldfinch
European Roller
European Serin
Finsch’s Wheatear
Fire-Fronted Serin
Graceful Prinia
Great Tit
Green Sandpiper
Grey Heron
Grey Hypocolius
Hooded Crow
House Sparrow
Imperial Eagle
Indian Roller
Iranian Bulbul
Iranian Grosbeak
Iranian Ground Jay
Iranian Woodpecker
Isabelline Wheatear
Laughing Dove
Lesser Kestrel
Lesser Whitethroat
Little Egret
Little Owl
Long-eared Owl
Long-legged Buzzard
Mallard
Menetries’s Warbler
Northern Bald Ibis
Northern Wheatear
Ortolan Bunting
Pale Rock Sparrow
Persian Ground Jay
Persian Magpie
Persian Nuthatch
Persian Shearwater
Pied Avocet
Pleske’s Ground Jay
Radde’s Accentor
Red-backed Shrike
Red-tailed Wheatear
Red-wattled Lapwing
Rock Bunting
Rock Sparrow
Saxaul Sparrow
Smew
Socotra Cormorant
Steppe Eagle
Streaked Scrub Warbler
Syrian Serin
Syrian Woodpecker
Tawny Pipit
Western Marsh Harrier
Western Rock Nuthatch
Western Yellow Wagtail
White-eared Bulbul
White Stork
White-tailed Lapwing
White-throated Dipper
White-throated Robin
White Wagtail
Yellow-headed Wheatear
Yellow-vented Bulbul

Non-native Birds

Alexandrine Parakeet
Arctic Loon
Barnacle Goose
Brown Noddy
Brown Skua
Common Scoter
Demoiselle Crane
Far Eastern Curlew
Great Snipe
Great Spotted Cuckoo
Herring Gull
Indian Skimmer
Pallas’s Sandgrouse
Pied Cuckoo
Red Phalarope
Red-vented Bulbul
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Ruddy Duck
Small Buttonquail
Sociable Lapwing
Solitary Snipe
Sykes’s Nightjar

Some of Iran’s best places to go birdwatching include Miankaleh Wildlife Sanctuary, Lake Urmia, and Golestan National Park. The last one is notable as it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The peak season for birding in Iran generally falls within the spring and autumn months when migratory birds pass through or stop there.