List of birds of Wales
Common name Binomial Status
( Eurasian ) scops owl Otus scops BR
Snowy owl Bubo scandiaca BR
Little owl Athene noctua I
Tawny owl Strix aluco
Long-eared owl Asio otus
Short-eared owl Asio flammeus
Typical owls
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 . There are about 199 species worldwide , 8 in Britain and 6 in Wales .
This list of birds of Wales includes every species of bird that has been recorded in a wild state in Wales. Compared to the avifauna of Britain as a whole, Wales has fewer breeding species, but these include a number of moorland species such as red grouse and black grouse, large numbers of seabirds (particularly on offshore islands such as Skomer, Grassholm and Bardsey) and good populations of several species typical of Welsh oak woods including redstart, pied flycatcher and wood warbler. Among the birds of prey is the red kite, which had become extinct in other parts of Britain until being reintroduced recently. In winter many wildfowl and waders are found around the coast, attracted by the mild temperatures. In spring and autumn a variety of migrant and vagrant birds can be seen, particularly on headlands and islands. Three-quarters of the UK population of the red-billed chough resides in Wales. The list is based on Birds in Wales (Lovegrove et al. 1994), Birds in Wales 1992-2000 (Green 2002) and the list of the Welsh Ornithological Society (Prater & Thorpe 2006) with updates from the Welsh Records Panel's annual reports. The taxonomy and scientific names follow the official list of the British Ornithologists' Union (BOU). The English names are the vernacular names used in the 7th edition of the BOU list with the standardized names from that list given in brackets where they differ. The family introductions are based on The New Encyclopedia of Birds (Perrins 2004) except where otherwise stated. The number of species in each family is approximate due to differing opinions on classification; the numbers given in the list are based on The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th edition.