Records exist for 368 species of birds on Prince Edward Island.
Record keeping of PEI birds has been reliant on individuals who documented their sightings. The PEI Birders Mailing List is a key component in ensuring those sightings become part of permanent ornithological records. All postings from 2005 forward are available from their archived records. To post to the list you first subscribe to the list by following the second link below:
Peibirders mailing list Peibirders@lists.upei.ca http://lists.upei.ca/listinfo/peibirders
Field Check List of Birds 8th edition (2014) is published by the PEI provincial government in pdf format and is available for download.
The Island Naturalist (newsletter of Nature PEI) has for 50 years maintained natural history records and you can submit records to the editor directly. Back issues from 2006 to present are available.
e-bird Canada as a project of Bird Studies Canada, provides an important repository for records as is the Birds of PEI listing on Naturalist, with many birders submitting sighting directly through that site.
Birding on PEI Facebook Group is a great birding resource.
Check out the new site Birds of Prince Edward Island.
Below is the annual listing of PEI sightings recorded for the past year thanks to David Seeler and the PEI Birder mailing list:
Year # of species recorded 2003 236 2004 249 2005 261 2006 247 2007 245 2008 251 2009 243 2010 236 2011 241 2012 240 2013 244 2014 245 2015 233 2016 231 2017 238 ________________________________________________ 2017 Sightings
SPECIES Reported: 238
DUCKS, GEESE, AND WATERFOWL
Greater White-fronted Goose
Snow Goose
Brant
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Common Eider
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Barrow’s Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
PHEASANTS, GROUSE, AND ALLIES
Ring-necked Pheasant
Gray Partridge
Ruffed Grouse
Sharp-tailed Grouse
LOONS
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
GREBES
Pied-billed Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
SHEARWATERS AND PETRELS
Great Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
STORM-PETRELS
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel
BOOBIES AND GANNETS
Northern Gannet
CORMORANTS AND SHAGS
Great Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
PELICANS
American White Pelican
HERONS, EGRETS, AND BITTERNS
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Cattle Egret
NEW WORLD VULTURES
Turkey Vulture
OSPREY
Osprey
HAWKS, EAGLES, AND KITES
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Northern Goshawk
Bald Eagle
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
RAILS, GALLINULES, AND COOTS
Virginia Rail
Sora
CRANES
Sandhill Crane
PLOVERS AND LAPWINGS
Black-bellied Plover
American Golden-Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Killdeer
SANDPIPERS AND ALLIES
Upland Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Hudsonian Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Ruff
Stilt Sandpiper
Sanderling
Dunlin
Baird’s Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson’s Snipe
American Woodcock
Wilson’s Phalarope
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
SKUAS AND JAEGERS
Pomarine Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger
AUKS, MURRES, AND PUFFINS
Dovekie
Common Murre
Thick-billed Murre
Razorbill
Black Guillemot
Atlantic Puffin
GULLS, TERNS, AND SKIMMERS
Black-legged Kittiwake
Bonaparte’s Gull
Black-headed Gull
Little Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Thayer’s Gull
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Glaucous Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Common Tern
Arctic Tern
PIGEONS AND DOVES
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
CUCKOOS
Black-billed Cuckoo
OWLS
Great Horned Owl
Snowy Owl
Barred Owl
Long-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
NIGHTJARS AND ALLIES
Common Nighthawk
HUMMINGBIRDS
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
KINGFISHERS
Belted Kingfisher
WOODPECKERS
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
American Three-toed Woodpecker
Black-backed Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
FALCONS AND CARACARAS
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
TYRANT FLYCATCHERS
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Alder Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
SHRIKES
Northern Shrike
VIREOS, SHRIKE-BABBLERS, ERPORNIS
Blue-headed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
CROWS, JAYS, AND MAGPIES
Gray Jay
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
LARKS
Horned Lark
SWALLOWS
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
TITS, CHICKADEES, AND TITMICE
Black-capped Chickadee
Boreal Chickadee
NUTHATCHES
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
TREECREEPERS
Brown Creeper
WRENS
Winter Wren
Sedge Wren
KINGLETS
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
THRUSHES AND ALLIES
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Swainson’s Thrush
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
MOCKINGBIRDS AND THRASHERS
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
STARLINGS
European Starling
WAGTAILS AND PIPITS
American Pipit
WAXWINGS
Bohemian Waxwing
Cedar Waxwing
LONGSPURS AND SNOW BUNTINGS
Lapland Longspur
Snow Bunting
NEW WORLD WARBLERS
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Black-and-white Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Canada Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
BUNTINGS AND NEW WORLD SPARROWS
Nelson’s Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
CARDINALS AND ALLIES
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
TROUPIALS AND ALLIES
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Rusty Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
FINCHES, EUPHONIAS, AND ALLIES
Pine Grosbeak
Purple Finch
White-winged Crossbill
Common Redpoll
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Evening Grosbeak
OLD WORLD SPARROWS
House Sparrow
Peibirders mailing list Peibirders@lists.upei.ca http://lists.upei.ca/listinfo/peibirders
Thanks to David Seeler for providing this ornithological data for Prince Edward Island
Nature PEI 
Hello
We are first time visitors to PEI and will arrive for four days next week. Can you tell us where the best birding sites are for this time of year?
Thank you
Bob Kelly
How do I report a rare bird sighting? Female yellow-headed blackbird in my feeder area (ground-feeding finch seed with starlings, pigeons, juncos, etc., on Boxing Day. I tried to sign up for Nature PEI bird e-list and got rejected. Rejection message doesn’t tell me what problem is. Hope to hear from list administrator soon!
I reported Rare Bird sighting to Project FeederWatch but they want a photo for official record. I hope she comes back again as I couldn’t get a closeup yesterday, just one of her perching in nearby tree. But ID’ing her was a no-brainer! Only a few feet away from window.
Please respond. It’s pretty exciting (:>))
Inkerman Road, Crapaud
May 3 saw a “Brown Thrasher” at 2190 Church Road Rustico at 7 PM. Bird was in a spruce tree at the border of the St. Augustine’s Church property and the new French school. Beautiful song!
What about Greater Shearwaters? Saw what I assumed to be the same one on an almost daily basis for well over a week this August off the northern shore of PEI (just off North Rustico harbor). I was fishing Mackerel and was dually entertained by it’s habit of scouring for underwater prey by swimming with it’s head beneath the surface as well as by the tenacity with which it would defend itself when encroached upon by much larger birds, mostly Great Black-backed Gulls. I’ve never seen them here before but do not usually spend much time on the water off our northern shore during late summer. Was told by another fisherman that he’s seen them before, likely true but possibly misinformation or confusion with a Sooty Shearwater.
Thank you for the reports! I have added the species mentioned to the 2012 List.
All the best for 2013 & Good Birding
David Seeler
Seeler@upei.ca
A California Gull has been hanging around the parking lot where I live in Summerside – October 29-30, 2014. I “snowbird” in California so have only ever seen them there. I looked up info online and it says California Gulls never venture further west than Manitoba.
I found this nest in West Prince…. it is about the size of a large orange. Teardrop shaped… side entry, hanging suspended under a single branch by a singe attachment point at the top…. I have never seen one before…. Any idea what the nest might be ? https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155314911385134&set=a.10150412639645134.623493.705360133&type=1&comment_id=10155315614430134&offset=0&total_comments=7&ref=notif¬if_t=photo_comment
I am disappointed they picked the gray jay as the national bird.I am 62 years old and spent most of my life working out side and never saw one.There are lots of blue jays, robins, crows, and geese.
I live in Alma PEI there’s a raptor out here. Black tip wings, white tail. It hovering hunting in the fields. Very quick, wings are long and kind of narrow. It’s mostly white spoty black patches.
Good morning. I like watching birds but because of where I live they won’t show up unless I feed them. It’s usually only some Blue Jay’s. Any thoughts on how long before we could start putting out food again.
This is an extensive list of birds that I have never seen, nor heard of before. An accompanying pictures would be a wonderful addition. Thank you
Thanks you — the best sources for pictures and additional information on songs etc., is through the wonderful resources like eBird or iNaturalist. As birders across PEI are actively building those citizen science resources sighting by sighting those sites are likely the best place to find additional information on each species sighted on PEI. Ebird has 313 species of PEI birds with details on those sightings. Nature PEI is working to help people learn more about those resources and will continue to offer workshops on getting started with iNaturalist. Here are good starting points for each of these free services. Since they are also app based they are helpful in the field for logging locations of sightings using a smart phone.
https://ebird.org/region/CA-PE
https://www.inaturalist.org/places/prince-edward-island