Birds of Norway

There are over 500 avian species that call Norway home. Most of the birds living here have adapted to the natural environments of the region, which mainly include mountainous terrain and large lakes.

The Norwegian national bird is the White-throated Dipper. Other notable avifauna include the Atlantic Puffin, the European Herring Gull, and the Great Tit.

List of Common Birds Found in Norway

Native Birds

Arctic Skua
Arctic Tern
Atlantic Black Guillemot
Atlantic Puffin
Barnacle Goose
Barn Swallow
Bar-tailed Godwit
Bearded Reedling
Black-browed Albatross
Black Grouse
Black-headed Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Black-necked Grebe
Black Tern
Black-throated Diver
Black-winged Stilt
Blue Tit
Bohemian Waxwing
Brant Goose
Brünnich’s Guillemot
Eurasian Bullfinch
Coal Tit
Common Blackbird
Common Buzzard
Common Chaffinch
Common Crane
Common Eider
Common Greenshank
Common Guillemot
Common Gull
Common Kestrel
Common Merganser
Common Moorhen
Common Murre
Common Redshank
Common Redstart
Common Ringed Plover
Common Sandpiper
Common Scoter
Common Snipe
Common Teal
Common Wood Pigeon
Crested Tit
Dunlin
Dunnock
Eurasian Blackcap
Eurasian Collared Dove
Eurasian Coot
Eurasian Curlew
Eurasian Dotterel
Eurasian Eagle-owl
Eurasian Hobby
Eurasian Jackdaw
Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Oystercatcher
Eurasian Penduline tit
Eurasian Shoveler
Eurasian Siskin
Eurasian Thick-knee
Eurasian Wigeon
Eurasian Wren
Eurasian Wryneck
European Golden Plover
European Goldfinch
European Greenfinch
European Green Woodpecker
European Herring Gull
European Honey Buzzard
European Oystercatcher
European Robin
European Serin
European Shag
European Starling
European Storm Petrel
Fieldfare
Gadwall
Glaucous Gull
Golden Eagle
Gray Heron
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Cormorant
Great Northern Diver
Great Shearwater
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Great Tit
Green Sandpiper
Graylag Goose
Gray Plover
Gyrfalcon
Hawfinch
Hen Harrier
Horned Grebe
House Sparrow
Iceland Gull
Ivory gull
Kentish Plover
King Eider
Leach’s Storm Petrel
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Little Auk
Little Gull
Little Ringed Plover
Little Tern
Long-tailed Duck
Long-tailed Skua
Long-tailed Tit
Manx Shearwater
Marsh Tit
Merlin
Mute Swan
Northern Fulmar
Northern Gannet
Northern Goshawk
Northern Harrier
Northern Pintail
Northern Raven
Northern Wheatear
Eurasian Nuthatch
Osprey
Parasitic Jaeger
Peregrine Falcon
Pink-footed Goose
Purple Sandpiper
Red-breasted Merganser
Red Knot
Red-necked Grebe
Red-necked Phalarope
Red Phalarope
Red-throated Diver
Red-throated Loon
Redwing
Ringed Plover
Rough-legged Buzzard
Ruddy Turnstone
Ruff
Sanderling
Sandwich Tern
Slavonian Grebe
Smew
Snow Bunting
Sooty Shearwater
Spotted Redshank
Tawny Owl
Tufted Duck
Velvet Scoter
Whimbrel
Whiskered Tern
White-backed Woodpecker
White-tailed Eagle
White-throated Dipper
White Wagtail
White-winged Tern
Willow Tit
Willow Warbler
Wilson’s Phalarope
Wilson’s Snipe
Wood Sandpiper
Yellowhammer

Non-native Birds

Bar-headed Goose
Egyptian Goose
Mandarin Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Rock Pigeon
Ruddy Duck

Some of the best birding sites in Norway include Varanger Peninsula, Jomfruland National Park, and Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park. The peak birding season in Norway typically occurs during the spring and summer months when many migratory species arrive to breed and take advantage of the abundant food resources.