The official list of birds recorded in Britain

White-chinned Petrel, Scapa Flow, Mainland, Orkney, 25 May 2020 © Robert Foubister
Admitted to the British List in June 2021

The BOU maintains the British List, the official list of wild bird record in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales and associated waters). The List is managed by the BOU’s Records Committee (BOURC).

Each species on the List is assigned to a species category. Only those species in Categories A, B and C form the British List.

As at 11 December 2023 the British List stands at 633 species.

Taxonomy
From the 9th Edition (December 2017), the British List follows the IOC World Bird List (version 12.1).

Online resources and downloads

The British List – 10th Edition | Full checklist format | Updated June 2022
VIEW
These checklist editions are only published every five or so years. Changes to the List between editions are published in BOURC reports and included in the simple list (see below).
Recommended citation:
British Ornithologists’ Union. 2022. The British List: A Checklist of Birds of Britain (10th edition). Ibis 164: 860–910.

The British List | Simple list format | Updated 11 December 2023
VIEW
This list is maintained between full checklist editions (latest is 10th edition (June 2022) – see above) and include changes published in BOURC reports (up to and including the latest report – see here).

The British List | Excel spreadsheet | Updated 11 December 2023
DOWNLOAD
Includes Excel version of the above ‘simple’ list, full taxon list format, Category D species, Category F, aggregates species and subspecies

Other resources
Species in Categories A, B & C
Species in Category D
Species in Category E
Category F (to follow)

This page and linked files updated 11 December 2023