Birding in April, spring arrivals

The floodgates open. Swallows, warblers and cuckoos pour in, the dawn chorus builds each week, and spring overshoots reach the south coast.

Updated 26 September 2026

What's around in April

Summer migrants

• Early April: Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Swallow, House Martin.
• Mid April: Cuckoo, Tree Pipit, Redstart, Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, Yellow Wagtail, Nightingale.
• Late April: Pied Flycatcher and Wood Warbler in western oakwoods, Reed Warbler, Hobby, and the first Swifts in the final days.
• Grasshopper Warbler: reeling at dawn and dusk from rough grassland.

Nightingales

Males arrive mid-April and sing day and night. Knepp in West Sussex, RSPB Pulborough Brooks and Fingringhoe Wick in Essex are well-known sites. Listen at dusk.

Passage on the coast and reservoirs

• Arctic Tern, Common Tern and Little Gull: pass through inland reservoirs, often in flocks after rain.
• Whimbrel: the seven-note whistle along every coast from mid-April.
• Bar-tailed Godwit: brick-red summer plumage on east coast passage.
• Dotterel: late April into May, small trips stop on traditional hilltops such as Pendle Hill.

Spring overshoots

Warm southerlies push Mediterranean birds past their target. Hoopoe is the classic April find on the south coast and Scilly. Night Heron, Purple Heron and Black Kite turn up most springs.

Where to go in April

• Headlands and observatories: Portland, Dungeness, Spurn for falls of migrants.
• Reedbeds: RSPB Minsmere, RSPB Leighton Moss, RSPB Ham Wall for warblers, bittern and marsh harrier.
• Nightingale sites: Knepp, Pulborough Brooks, Fingringhoe Wick.
• Western oakwoods in the last week: pied flycatcher, redstart, wood warbler.

April tips

• Learn one song a week. The Bird Hear sound ID tool gives you the top three matches from a 10-second recording.
• Go out after rain. A band of rain overnight grounds migrants. Terns and waders drop onto reservoirs.
• Give nests space. If a bird is alarm-calling at you, you're too close. Back off.