Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago known for the migratory birds that visit it. The islands are next to the Barents Sea, where the most seabirds visit, about 20 million birds. Some avifauna seen here include the Little Auk, the Northern Fulmar, the Thick-billed Murre, the Black-legged Kittiwake, and the Snow Bunting.
List of Common Birds Found in Svalbard
- Arctic Jaeger
- Arctic Loon
- Arctic Redpoll
- Arctic Skua
- Arctic Tern
- Atlantic Brant
- Atlantic Puffin
- Barnacle Goose
- Bar-tailed Godwit
- Bean Goose
- Black Brant
- Black Guillemot
- Black-legged Kittiwake
- Black Scoter
- Bluethroat
- Brambling
- Brant Goose
- Brunnich’s Guillemot
- Common Chaffinch
- Common Eider
- Common Greenshank
- Common Redpoll
- Common Redshank
- Common Ringed Plover
- Common Scoter
- Common Snipe
- Dunlin
- Eurasian Bullfinch
- Eurasian Curlew
- Eurasian Dotterel
- Eurasian Golden Plover
- Eurasian Jay
- Eurasian Oystercatcher
- Eurasian Skylark
- Eurasian Teal
- Eurasian Wigeon
- European Golden Plover
- European Storm-petrel
- Glaucous Gull
- Gray Heron
- Graylag Goose
- Gray Phalarope
- Great Black-Backed Gull
- Greater Scaup
- Greater White-fronted Goose
- Great Northern Diver
- Great Skua
- Green-winged Teal
- Guillemot
- Gyr Falcon
- Harlequin Duck
- Herring Gull
- Horned Grebe
- Iceland Gull
- Ivory Gull
- King Eider
- Lapland Longspur
- Leach’s Storm-petrel
- Lesser Black-backed Gull
- Lesser Redpoll
- Little Auk
- Little Ringed Plover
- Little Stint
- Long-tailed Duck
- Long-tailed Skua
- Northern Fulmar
- Northern Gannet
- Northern Lapwing
- Northern Raven
- Northern Shoveler
- Northern Wheatear
- Pectoral Sandpiper
- Pine Grosbeak
- Pink-footed Goose
- Pomarine Skua
- Purple Sandpiper
- Razorbill
- Red-breasted Merganser
- Red Knot
- Red-necked Phalarope
- Red Phalarope
- Red-throated Diver
- Red-throated Loon
- Red-throated Pipit
- Redwing
- Ringed Plover
- Rock Pipit
- Rock Ptarmigan
- Ross’s Gull
- Ruddy Shelduck
- Ruddy Turnstone
- Sabine’s Gull
- Sanderling
- Semipalmated Sandpiper
- Short-eared Owl
- Snow Bunting
- Snow Goose
- Snowy Owl
- Sooty Shearwater
- Svalbard Rock Ptarmigan
- Thick-billed Murre
- Tufted Duck
- Tundra Bean Goose
- White-fronted Goose
- White-tailed Eagle
- Willow Ptarmigan
- Yellow-billed Loon
Svalbard offers incredible birdwatching opportunities due to its unique Arctic environment and diverse bird species. Some of the best birding sites in Svalbard include Auk Cliff, the fjords of Hornsund, the world’s northernmost settlement Ny-Ålesund, Adventdalen Valley, and the west coast of Spitsbergen. The peak season for birding in Svalbard typically falls between late spring and early summer. The Arctic summer, particularly from late May to early August, is when the bird populations in Svalbard are most active and visible.
