1
Adelie Penguin
Pygoscelis adeliae
A medium-sized Antarctic penguin recognized by white eye-rings on a black face — one of the most-southerly breeding birds on Earth, completing 13,000 km annual migrations on sea ice.
This page lists birds that end with N. 20 birds are detailed below. Each entry below is a doorway into a full profile — not just a name on a list.
List of Birds That End With N
2
Bittern
Botaurus stellaris
A secretive, booming heron of reed beds — the male's low, foghorn-like boom carries for kilometres across marshes on still spring nights and is one of the most extraordinary sounds in British wildlife; the bittern's streaked brown plumage makes it almost impossible to spot even when standing upright among reeds.
3
Chicken
Gallus gallus domesticus
The most numerous bird on Earth — over 30 billion at any given time — domesticated from the Southeast Asian red junglefowl about 8,000 years ago and now central to every poultry-eating cuisine on Earth.
4
Dunlin
Calidris alpina
Britain's most abundant small wader — a dumpy, short-legged sandpiper that winters in enormous flocks on estuaries and mudflats, performing breathtaking aerial "murmurations" that twist and turn as a single organism; in summer breeding plumage it has a distinctive black belly patch unique among similar species.
5
Falcon
Falco peregrinus (peregrine falcon)
A swift, sharp-winged raptor — including the peregrine, the fastest animal on Earth — with extraordinary diving speeds and a long history as a hunting partner in royal falconry traditions.
6
Heron
Ardea herodias (great blue heron)
A long-legged wading bird that stands motionless in shallow water, then strikes with neck-spear precision — the great blue heron a familiar sight at North American wetlands.
7
House Martin
Delichon urbicum
A familiar summer visitor that builds its distinctive mud nest under the eaves of houses — arriving from southern Africa each April, house martins construct domed cup nests from hundreds of individual pellets of mud gathered from puddle edges; the white rump is the key identification feature separating it from the swallow.
8
Loon
Gavia immer
A primitive-looking diving bird of northern lakes with a haunting yodeling call, awkward on land but exceptional underwater — the official bird of Ontario and a symbol of northern wilderness.
9
Merlin
Falco columbarius
Britain's smallest falcon — a fierce, compact little raptor of upland moorland and coasts that hunts small birds with explosive speed, often following close to the ground in low dashing pursuit; the female is streaky brown, the male is blue-grey above with an orange-buff breast, and both are easily overlooked until they erupt in a burst of rapid wingbeats.
10
Pelican
Pelecanus occidentalis (brown); Pelecanus erythrorhynchos (American white)
A large coastal water bird with a distinctive throat pouch — used as a fishing net during plunge-dives and as a holding bag while feeding chicks, common at coastal fishing piers worldwide.
11
Penguin
Aptenodytes forsteri
The largest living penguin species and the only animal to breed during the Antarctic winter, enduring the planet's harshest conditions.
12
Pigeon
Columba livia
A globally ubiquitous urban bird descended from the rock dove of Mediterranean cliffs — domesticated for over 5,000 years for food, communication, racing, and ornamentation, with feral populations in nearly every city worldwide.
13
Ptarmigan
Lagopus muta
The high Arctic grouse that turns completely white in winter — Britain's only truly alpine bird, confined to the Scottish Highlands above 800 metres; it moults three times a year to match its surroundings (brown in summer, mottled grey in autumn, pure white in winter) and is so well camouflaged that walkers almost step on them before the bird moves.
14
Puffin
Fratercula arctica (Atlantic puffin)
A small black-and-white seabird with a colorful triangular bill — capable of holding 10+ fish in its beak at once, nesting in cliff burrows by the millions, and increasingly threatened by warming oceans.
15
Raven
Corvus corax
The largest songbird and one of the most intelligent — a massive black corvid celebrated in mythology and Edgar Allan Poe alike, with documented problem-solving rivaling great apes.
16
Robin
Turdus migratorius
A large, orange-breasted thrush common across North American lawns and gardens, an early sign of spring and the most numerous land bird on the continent.
17
Siskin
Spinus spinus
A small, lively finch of conifers and birch woodland — the male is a bright greenish-yellow bird with a streaked black cap; siskins form acrobatic feeding flocks in alder and birch trees in winter, and have become one of the most popular garden feeders in Britain since learning to exploit nyjer seed feeders.
18
Swan
Cygnus olor
A large white waterfowl with an orange bill and an iconic curved neck, fiercely territorial and surprisingly aggressive despite its placid appearance.
19
Toucan
Ramphastos toco
The largest toucan species, a Central and South American fruit-eater with a striking oversized orange bill that serves as a thermal radiator as well as a feeding tool.
20
Wren
Troglodytidae (family)
Tiny brown songbirds with surprisingly loud voices — about 88 species worldwide, with the iconic Eurasian wren weighing just 10 grams while producing some of the loudest songs in the bird world.
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