List of birds of Metropolitan France

This list of birds species recorded in Metropolitan France. The avifauna of France includes a total of 671 species according to the Birds of France website (oiseaux.net). One is endemic to the island of Corsica.
Metropolitan France is the French mainland, adjacent islands, and Corsica. There is also a specific list for the birds of Corsica. For the birds in the French Overseas territories, see: List of birds of French Guiana, List of birds of French Polynesia, List of birds of Guadeloupe, List of birds of Martinique, List of birds of Réunion, and List of birds of Saint Pierre and Miquelon.
This list's taxonomic treatment (designation and sequence of orders, families and species) and nomenclature (English and scientific names) are those of the IOC World Bird List, Version 14.2 (2024).
Bird species admitted to the French List are included in the following categories A, B or C, with the same definitions as the British and other Western Palaearctic bird lists. These are sourced from the 2021 edition of the French list, which followed the IOC World Bird List, Version 11.1 (2021).
Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae
Anatidae includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl, such as geese and swans. These birds are adapted to an aquatic existence with webbed feet, flattened bills, and feathers that are excellent at shedding water due to an oily coating.
Order: Galliformes Family: Odontophoridae
The New World quails are small, plump terrestrial birds only distantly related to the quails of the Old World. Two have been introduced to France as gamebirds.
Order: Galliformes Family: Phasianidae
These are terrestrial species of gamebirds, feeding and nesting on the ground. They are variable in size but generally plump, with broad and relatively short wings. In addition to the native species, several have been introduced for game shooting.
Order: Caprimulgiformes Family: Caprimulgidae
Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal birds that usually nest on the ground. They have long wings, short legs, and very short bills. Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Their soft plumage is camouflaged to resemble bark or leaves.
Order: Caprimulgiformes Family: Apodidae
Swifts are small birds which spend the majority of their lives flying. These birds have very short legs and never settle voluntarily on the ground, perching instead only on vertical surfaces. Many swifts have long swept-back wings which resemble a crescent.
Order: Otidiformes Family: Otididae
Bustards are large terrestrial birds mainly associated with dry open country and steppes in the Old World. They are omnivorous and nest on the ground. They walk steadily on strong legs and big toes, pecking for food as they go. They have long broad wings with "fingered" wingtips and striking patterns in flight. Many have interesting mating displays.
Order: Cuculiformes Family: Cuculidae
The family Cuculidae includes cuckoos, roadrunners, and anis. These birds are of variable size with slender bodies, long tails, and strong legs. The Old World cuckoos are brood parasites.
Order: Pterocliformes Family: Pteroclidae
Sandgrouse have small pigeon-like heads and necks, but sturdy compact bodies. They have long pointed wings and sometimes tails and a fast direct flight. Flocks fly to watering holes at dawn and dusk. Their legs are feathered down to the toes.
Order: Columbiformes Family: Columbidae
Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills with a fleshy cere.
Order: Gruiformes Family: Rallidae
Rallidae is a large family of small to medium-sized birds which includes the rails, crakes, coots, and moorhens. Typically they inhabit dense vegetation in damp environments near lakes, swamps, or rivers. Many are shy and secretive birds, but some are bold and conspicuous. Most species have strong legs and long toes which are well adapted to soft uneven surfaces. They tend to have short, rounded wings and appear to be to be weak fliers, though many are capable of long-distance migration.
Order: Gruiformes Family: Gruidae
Cranes are large, long-legged, and long-necked birds. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back. Most have elaborate and noisy courting displays or "dances".
Order: Podicipediformes Family: Podicipedidae
Grebes are small to medium-large freshwater diving birds. They have lobed toes and are excellent swimmers and divers. However, they have their feet placed far back on the body, making them quite ungainly on land.
Order: Phoenicopteriformes Family: Phoenicopteridae
Flamingos are gregarious warm temperate to tropical wetland birds, usually 1 to 1.5 metres (3 ft 3 in to 4 ft 11 in) high, found in both the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. Flamingos filter-feed on shrimps and algae. Their oddly shaped beaks are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they consume and, uniquely, are used upside-down.
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Turnicidae
The buttonquail are small, drab, running birds which superficially resemble quail. The female is the brighter of the sexes and initiates courtship. The male incubates the eggs and tends the young. One species is cited on the current French list, but without details.
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Burhinidae
The stone-curlews, also called thick-knees, are a group of waders found worldwide within the tropical zone, with some species also breeding in temperate Europe and Australia. They are medium to large waders with strong black or yellow-black bills, large yellow eyes, and cryptic plumage. Despite being classed as waders, most species have a preference for arid or semi-arid habitats.
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Haematopodidae
The oystercatchers are large and noisy plover-like birds, with strong bills used for smashing or prising open molluscs.
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Recurvirostridae
Recurvirostridae is a family of large wading birds which includes the avocets and stilts. The avocets have long legs and long up-curved bills. The stilts have extremely long legs and long, thin, straight bills.
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Charadriidae
The family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterel, and lapwings. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short thick necks, and long, usually pointed, wings. They are found in open country worldwide, mostly in habitats near water.
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Scolopacidae
Scolopacidae is a large diverse family of small to medium-sized waders including the sandpipers, curlews, godwits, shanks, woodcock, snipe, dowitchers, and phalaropes. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. Variation in length of legs and bills enables multiple species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food.
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Glareolidae
Glareolidae is a family of wading birds comprising the pratincoles, which have short legs, long pointed wings, and long forked tails, and the coursers, which have long legs, short wings, and pointed bills which curve downwards.
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Laridae
Laridae is a family of medium to large seabirds and includes gulls and terns. Gulls are typically grey and white, often with black markings on the head and wingtips. They have stout, longish, bills and webbed feet. Terns are a group of generally small to medium seabirds typically with grey and white plumage, often with black cap on the head, but more extensive black in some species. Most terns hunt fish by diving but some pick insects off the surface of fresh water. Gulls and terns are generally long-lived birds, with several species known to live in excess of 30 years.
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Stercorariidae
The family Stercorariidae are medium to large seabirds, typically with greyish to brown plumage, often with white markings on the wings. They nest on the ground in temperate and arctic regions and are mostly long-distance migrants.
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Alcidae
Alcidae are a family of seabirds which are superficially similar to penguins with their black and white plumage, their upright posture, and some of their habits, but which are able to fly.
Order: Phaethontiformes Family: Phaethontidae
The tropicbirds are a small group of tropical seabirds with long central tail streamers. Recent global warming has resulted in these birds being seen at higher latitudes in the last 10–20 years.
Order: Gaviiformes Family: Gaviidae
Divers are a group of aquatic birds found in northern parts of North America and Eurasia. They are around the size of a cormorant, which they somewhat resemble in shape when swimming, but to which they are completely unrelated. In particular, their legs are set very far back which assists swimming underwater but makes walking on land extremely difficult.
Order: Procellariiformes Family: Oceanitidae
The families Oceanitidae and Hydrobatidae are the storm petrels, small pelagic petrels with a fluttering flight which often follow ships.
Order: Procellariiformes Family: Diomedeidae
The albatrosses are among the largest of flying birds, and the great albatrosses of the genus Diomedea have the largest wingspans of any extant birds.
Order: Procellariiformes Family: Hydrobatidae
The northern storm-petrels are relatives of the petrels and are the smallest seabirds. They feed on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering. The flight is fluttering and sometimes bat-like.
Order: Procellariiformes Family: Procellariidae
The procellariids are the main group of medium-sized "true petrels", characterized by united nostrils with medium septum and a long outer functional primary.
Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ciconiidae
Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wetland birds with long, stout bills. Storks are mute, but bill-clattering is an important mode of communication at the nest. Their nests can be large and may be reused for many years. Many species are migratory.
Order: Suliformes Family: Fregatidae
Frigatebirds are large seabirds from the tropics with a very high aspect ratio. These birds do not swim and cannot walk well, and cannot take off from a flat surface.
Order: Suliformes Family: Sulidae
The sulids comprise the gannets and boobies. Both groups are medium to large coastal seabirds that plunge-dive for fish.
Order: Suliformes Family: Phalacrocoracidae
Phalacrocoracidae is a family of medium-to-large fish-eating seabirds that includes cormorants and shags. Plumage varies, with the majority having mainly dark plumage.
Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Threskiornithidae
Threskiornithidae is a family of large terrestrial and wading birds which includes the ibises and spoonbills. They have long, broad wings with 11 primary and about 20 secondary feathers. They are strong fliers and, despite their size and weight, very capable soarers.
Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Ardeidae
The family Ardeidae contains bitterns, herons, and egrets. Herons and egrets are medium to large wading birds with long necks and legs. Bitterns tend to be shorter necked and more wary. Members of Ardeidae fly with their necks retracted, unlike other long-necked birds such as storks, ibises, and spoonbills.
Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Pelecanidae
Pelicans are very large water birds with a distinctive pouch under their beak. They have four webbed toes.
Order: Accipitriformes Family: Pandionidae
The osprey is a medium-large raptor which is a specialist fish-eater.
Order: Accipitriformes Family: Accipitridae
Accipitridae is a family of birds of prey which includes hawks, eagles, kites, harriers, and Old World vultures. They have powerful hooked beaks for tearing flesh from their prey, strong legs, powerful talons, and keen eyesight.
Order: Strigiformes Family: Tytonidae
Barn owls are medium to large owls with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. They have long strong legs with powerful talons.
Order: Strigiformes Family: Strigidae
Typical owls are small to large solitary nocturnal birds of prey. They have large forward-facing eyes and ears, a hawk-like beak, and a conspicuous circle of feathers around each eye called a facial disc.
Order: Bucerotiformes Family: Upupidae
Hoopoes have black and white wings and orangey-pink body plumage, with a large erectile crest on their head.
Order: Coraciiformes Family: Coraciidae
Rollers resemble crows in size and build, but are more closely related to the kingfishers and bee-eaters. They share the colourful appearance of those groups with blues and browns predominating. The two inner front toes are connected, but the outer toe is not.
Order: Coraciiformes Family: Alcedinidae
Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads, long pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails.
Order: Coraciiformes Family: Meropidae
The bee-eaters are a group of near-passerine birds. Most species are found in Africa but others occur in southern Europe, Madagascar, Australia, and New Guinea. They have richly coloured plumage, slender bodies, and usually elongated central tail feathers. All have long downturned bills and pointed wings, which give them a swallow-like appearance when seen from afar.
Order: Piciformes Family: Picidae
Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like beaks, short legs, stiff tails, and long tongues used for capturing insects. Some species have feet with two toes pointing forward and two backward, while several species have only three toes. Many woodpeckers have the habit of tapping noisily on tree trunks with their beaks.
Order: Falconiformes Family: Falconidae
Falconidae is a family of diurnal birds of prey. They differ from hawks, eagles, and kites in that they kill with their beaks instead of their talons.
Order: Psittaciformes Family: Psittacidae
A family of parrots mainly in the New World but also a few species in Africa. None are native in France, but one species has a feral population derived from escaped pets.
Order: Psittaciformes Family: Psittaculidae
Old World parrots are found from Africa across southern Asia and Oceania to Australia and New Zealand. None are native in France, but one species has a feral population derived from escaped pets.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Vireonidae
The vireos are a group of small- to medium-sized passerine birds restricted to the New World.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Oriolidae
The Old World orioles are colourful passerine birds that are not related to the New World orioles.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Laniidae
Shrikes are passerine birds known for their habit of catching other birds and small animals and impaling the uneaten portions of their bodies on thorns. A shrike's beak is hooked, like that of a typical bird of prey.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae
The family Corvidae includes crows, ravens, jays, choughs, magpies, and nutcrackers. Corvids are larger than the average size for species in the order Passeriformes and some show high levels of intelligence and exceptional spatial memory.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Bombycillidae
The waxwings are a group of birds with soft silky plumage and unique red tips to some of the wing feathers. These tips look like sealing wax and give the group its name. These are arboreal birds of northern forests. They live on insects in summer and berries in winter.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Paridae
The tits are mainly small stocky woodland species with short but strong bills. Some have crests. They are adaptable birds, with a mixed diet including seeds and insects.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Remizidae
The penduline tits are a group of small insectivorous birds related to the true tits, but with complex pendulous nests.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Panuridae
This species, the only one in its family, is found in reed beds throughout temperate Europe and Asia.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Alaudidae
Larks are small terrestrial birds with often extravagant songs and display flights. Most larks are dull in appearance. Their food is insects and seeds.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Hirundinidae
The family Hirundinidae is adapted to aerial feeding on flying insects. They have a slender streamlined body, long pointed wings, and a short bill with a wide gape. The feet are adapted to perching rather than walking, and the front toes are partially joined at the base.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Cettiidae
The members of this family are found across warmer areas of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Polynesia. They are insectivores.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Aegithalidae
Long-tailed tits are a group of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. They make woven bag nests in trees. Most eat a mixed diet which includes insects, spiders and small seeds.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Phylloscopidae
Leaf warblers are a family of small insectivorous birds found mostly in Eurasia and ranging into Wallacea and Africa. The species are of various sizes, often green-plumaged above and yellow or white below, or more subdued with greyish-green to greyish-brown colours. The highest diversity is in eastern Asia, but many are long-distance migrants, also prone to vagrancy, and several east Asian species regularly occcur in western Europe including France in the late autumn.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Acrocephalidae
The members of this family are medium size to large warblers. Most are rather plain olivaceous brown above and yellow to pale buff below. They are usually found in open woodland, reedbeds, or tall grass. The family occurs mostly in southern to western Eurasia and surroundings, but it also ranges far into the Pacific, and several species in Africa.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Locustellidae
Locustellidae are a family of small insectivorous songbirds found mainly in Eurasia, Africa, and the Australian region. They are smallish birds with tails that are usually long and pointed, and tend to be drab brownish or buffy all over.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Cisticolidae
The Cisticolidae are a family of warblers found in warmer southern regions of the Old World. They are generally very small birds of drab brown or grey appearance, found in open country such as grassland or scrub.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Sylviidae
The family Sylviidae is a group of small insectivorous birds. They mainly occur in Europe, Asia and, to a lesser extent, Africa; the highest diversity is in the Mediterranean region. Most are generally grey-brown, but often with black or grey head patterns, and a white throat; some have a reddish breast and/or rufous wings. Many have distinctive songs.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Leiothrichidae
The laughingthrushes are a family of mainly Asian passerine birds, diverse in size and colour. One species has become established in France from escaped cagebirds.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Regulidae
The crests and kinglets are a small family of birds which resemble some warblers. They are very small insectivorous birds in the single genus Regulus. The adults have coloured crowns, giving rise to their name.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Troglodytidae
The wrens are mainly small and inconspicuous except for their loud songs. They have short wings and thin down-turned bills, and often hold their tails upright. All are insectivorous. The family is almost entirely found in the New World, with just one species widespread in the Old World, including France. A second species is cited on the current French list, but without details.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Sittidae
Nuthatches are small woodland birds. They have the unusual ability to climb down trees head first, unlike other birds which can only go upwards. Nuthatches have big heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet. The Corsican nuthatch is the sole endemic species in France.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Tichodromidae
The wallcreeper is a small bird of mountain crags related to the nuthatch family, which has stunning crimson, grey, and black plumage. It is the only species in its family.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Certhiidae
Treecreepers are small woodland birds, brown above and white below. They have thin pointed down-curved bills, which they use to extricate insects from bark. They have stiff tail feathers, like woodpeckers, which they use to support themselves on vertical trees.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Sturnidae
Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds. Their flight is strong and direct and they are very gregarious. Their preferred habitat is fairly open country. They eat insects and fruit. Their plumage is variable; many are dark with a strong to very strong metallic sheen, others are brightly patterned in pink, yellow, or other colours.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Turdidae
The thrushes are a family of birds that occur mainly in the Old World. They are plump, soft-plumaged, small-to-medium-sized insectivores or sometimes omnivores, often feeding on the ground. Many have attractive songs.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Muscicapidae
Old World flycatchers are a large group of birds which are mainly small arboreal insectivores. The appearance of these birds is highly varied, but they mostly have weak songs and harsh calls.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Cinclidae
Dippers are a group of perching birds whose habitat includes aquatic environments in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. They are named for their bobbing or dipping movements.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Passeridae
In general, Old World sparrows tend to be small, plump, brown or grey birds with short tails and short powerful beaks. Sparrows are seed eaters, but they also consume small insects.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Estrildidae
The estrildid finches are small passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They are gregarious and often colonial seed eaters with short thick but pointed bills. They are all similar in structure and habits, but have a wide variation in plumage colour and patterns. Many are popular cagebirds, and one species has become established in France from escapes.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Prunellidae
The accentors and dunnocks are the only bird family which is endemic to the Palearctic. They are small, fairly drab species superficially similar to sparrows, but with a slender bill.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Motacillidae
Motacillidae is a family of small birds with medium to long tails which includes the wagtails, longclaws, and pipits. They are slender ground-feeding insectivores of open country.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Fringillidae
Finches are seed-eating birds that are small to moderately large and have a strong beak, usually conical and in some species very large. All have twelve tail feathers and nine primaries. These birds have a bouncing flight with alternating bouts of flapping and gliding on closed wings, and most sing well.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Calcariidae
The Calcariidae are a family of birds that had been traditionally grouped with the buntings, but differ in a number of respects and are usually found in open grassy areas.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Emberizidae
Emberizidae is a family of Old World passerine birds containing a single genus. Until 2017, the New World sparrows (Passerellidae) were also considered part of this family.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Passerellidae
Until 2017, these species were considered part of the family Emberizidae. Most of the species are known as sparrows, but these birds are not closely related to the Old World sparrows which are in the family Passeridae. Many of these have distinctive head patterns. Several are transatlantic vagrants; two have reached France.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Icteridae
The icterids are a group of small to medium-sized, often colourful birds restricted to the New World. Most species have black as a predominant plumage colour, often enlivened by yellow, orange, or red. Several are transatlantic vagrants; three have reached France.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Parulidae
Parulidae are a group of small, often colourful birds restricted to the New World. Most are arboreal and insectivorous. Several are transatlantic vagrants; 11 have reached France.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Cardinalidae
The cardinals are a family of robust seed-eating birds with strong bills. They are typically associated with open woodland. The sexes usually have distinct plumages. Several are transatlantic vagrants; three have reached France.
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