Binoculars, optional.
Visiting, mandatory.

Birding on the Edge

You’ll hear it before you realize you have arrived, then mist lifting to reveal a cliff so close you could touch it. Find yourself here, among the astonishing colonies of seabirds. Impossibly close, to you, to each other.

Newfoundland and Labrador offers the most accessible seabird nesting sites in the world. With one of the largest bald eagle populations on the continent and the rare and endangered birds that find their way to our island in the North Atlantic, St. John’s offers a birding trip like no other.

Plan Your Visit
How to See Them
Local Knowledge

Bucket List Birds of Newfoundland

A group of puffins sits on a large rock, ocean side

Atlantic Puffin

(Spring & Summer)
Our provincial bird and always a treat to watch!

Boreal Chickadee

(Year-round)
A true denizen of the northern boreal forest

Purple Sandpiper

(Winter)
The most northerly ranging shorebird in the world, they winter along our most wild & rugged coastlines.

Great Shearwater

(Summer)
Known locally as a “hagdown”, these pelagic birds breed in the southern hemisphere but wander all the way to Newfoundland to feed on our ocean’s bounty!

Willow Ptarmigan

(Year-Round)
Changing from red & brown in summer to white in winter, these tundra-loving birds are a fun challenge to spot.

What People are Saying

  • “I’ve been seeing northern gannets, Morus bassanus, for well over 30 years. But I’m going to make the case now that I’d never truly experienced the gannet until I visited the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland & Labrador…”
    Ted Floyd
    Editor of the American Birding Association’s Birding magazine and author of five bird books

  • “I went birding in Newfoundland in July! Holy cow was that fun. I was guided by the incredible Jared Clarke of Bird the Rock, and joined by Ted Floyd and Nate Swick of the ABA and Jason Ward of Birds of North America. Nate interviewed us all for a great ABA podcast episode, and I shouted out the amazing sea watching at Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve, where I had one of the absolute best birding experiences of my life. Most importantly, I finally got my lifer Thick-billed Murre, by 691st ABA bird!”
    Nicholas Lund
    “The Birdist”, Advocacy and Outreach Manager at Maine Audubon, Assistant Editor of Habitat Magazine and author

  • “…the island of Newfoundland is known for its incredible rarity pedigree. But there’s far more to this beautiful place than European vagrants. The city of St. John’s is a gateway to unbelievable nature experiences, from seabird colonies containing thousands upon thousands of charismatic Atlantic Puffins and Northern Gannets, to the sight of dozens of whales feeding near shore, to caribou and ptarmigan on the southernmost tundra on the continent.”
    Nate Swick
    Digital Communications Manager of the American Birding Association and host of American Birding Podcast

Plan Your Visit

St. John’s is the starting point for your next birding adventure, easily accessed by land, sea, and air.

How to See Them

Our tour operators bring you unparalleled access to millions of seabirds, songbirds, and rare birds.

Local Knowledge

World renowned birding experts have the inside information on the rarest and best birds in Newfoundland and Labrador. 

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