Birding in January: What to See and Where to Go in the UK

Every bird counts again from 1 January. Winter birds are settled, and a well-planned day can pass 100 species.

Updated 21 October 2026

Key dates this January

• 1 January: every bird counts again. Start your year list in your Birdedex.
• 4 January to 22 February: RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch. Classes count for one hour.
• 29 to 31 January: RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2027. One hour, any time over the weekend. Registration opened on 9 December.
• All month: the days get longer. By the end of January there's roughly an hour more daylight than at the solstice.

What's around in January

Wetlands and estuaries

• The full wildfowl line-up: Wigeon, Pintail, Goldeneye, Goosander, Smew.
• Estuary waders: Knot, Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Sanderling. Purple Sandpiper on rocky shores and harbour walls.
• Bittern: easier to see in cold weather when they feed in the open at reedbed edges.

At sea

• Great Northern Diver: sheltered bays in Cornwall, the west of Scotland and the Northern Isles.
• Red-throated Diver: the common east coast diver, often in hundreds off Norfolk and Suffolk.
• Slavonian Grebe, Long-tailed Duck, Velvet Scoter and Eider: calm days off the Scottish and north-east coasts.

Gulls

White-winged gulls are building. Iceland Gull and Glaucous Gull turn up at harbours, landfill sites and reservoir roosts, especially in the north and west.

Woodland and farmland

• Hawfinch: Forest of Dean (Parkend) and the New Forest are the reliable sites.
• Firecrest: winters in holly and ivy in southern England.
• Lesser Spotted Woodpecker: starts calling and drumming late in the month. Leafless trees make this the best time to find one.
• Tawny Owls are loud now, pairing up before nesting.

How to start a year list

1. Garden first. Ten minutes at the window on 1 January can give you 10 to 15 species.
2. Then the local patch. A park, river or reservoir on the first weekend adds the common water birds.
3. Grab the easy-to-miss ones early. Tree Sparrow, Grey Partridge and Marsh Tit are harder to find once the leaves are out.
4. One big day. Plan by habitat: woodland at dawn, estuary on the rising tide, reservoir or roost at dusk. North Norfolk can pass 100 species in a day.
5. Log as you go. Add each species to your Birdedex on the day so the list builds itself and shows how rare each find is.

10 target species for January

1. Hawfinch: Parkend in the Forest of Dean, early morning.
2. Great Northern Diver: sheltered bays in the west.
3. Red-throated Diver: off the Norfolk and Suffolk coast.
4. Smew: gravel pits and reservoirs in the south-east.
5. Iceland Gull: harbours and gull roosts in the north and west.
6. Bittern: reedbed edges after a freeze.
7. Firecrest: holly and ivy in southern woods.
8. Purple Sandpiper: rocky shores and harbour walls.
9. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker: listen for drumming late in the month.
10. Tawny Owl: at dusk, when the pairs are calling.

In the garden this month

• Do the Big Garden Birdwatch. 29 to 31 January. Count the most of each species you see at one time, not a running total. Full rules in our Big Garden Birdwatch guide.
• Keep feeders full and clean. January and February are the hungriest months. See our feeder guide.
• Keep water ice-free. Fresh water every day in a freeze. No salt, no antifreeze.
• Put up nest boxes now. Birds start looking at sites in late winter. Hole sizes and siting are in our nest box guide.
• Look for wintering Blackcaps on fat balls and fruit.

Where to go in January

• North Norfolk: RSPB Titchwell Marsh, Holkham and Cley for a big day list.
• The Severn: WWT Slimbridge for geese, swans and ducks.
• Forest of Dean: Hawfinch, Crossbill, Goshawk, Dipper.
• Cornwall: divers and grebes in the bays, winter rarities in the valleys.
• The Solway: WWT Caerlaverock for Barnacle Geese.
• Somerset Levels: RSPB Ham Wall for the Starling roost and Bittern.