14 birds starting with the letter S — each with origin, classification, and notes.
If you've been searching for birds that start with S, you'll find 14 detailed birds below. We're not interested in giving you only a list of names — every entry on this page links to a full profile with the kind of detail you'd actually want to know.
For birds, that means taxonomy, habitat, diet, wingspan, migration pattern, and conservation status.
A diverse family of small to medium shorebirds with long bills probing for invertebrates in mud and sand — many species undertake some of the longest non-stop bird migrations on Earth, sometimes 11,000+ km in a single flight.
A common term for various gull species — adaptable scavenger-omnivores found at coastlines, parking lots, garbage dumps, and inland lakes worldwide, with the herring gull and ring-billed gull being among the most familiar.
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.
A brown farmland bird famous for its sustained, complex hovering song — the male rises vertically to 300 metres and sings continuously for up to an hour, the quintessential sound of the open countryside in Romantic poetry and folk culture.
A cryptically patterned wader of wet grassland and bogs — famous for its evasive zigzagging escape flight, its ethereal "drumming" display sound made by tail feathers, and for being the origin of the word "sniper."
A small, brown, ubiquitous songbird — the house sparrow following human settlements globally, the native New World sparrows often confused with it, all unfussy about food and habitat.
A tall, all-white wading bird with a spatula-shaped bill that sweeps side to side through shallow water — one of Europe's most spectacular wetland birds, and a conservation success story after near-extinction in northwestern Europe.
A glossy black songbird with iridescent purple-green sheen — native to Eurasia but introduced to North America in 1890 by Shakespeare enthusiasts, now one of the most invasive bird species in the Western Hemisphere.
A compact, upright chat of heathland and coastal scrub — the male has a striking black head, white collar, and bright orange breast, and sits prominently on gorse or bramble stems making a harsh "wheet-tsak-tsak" call like two pebbles being knocked together; year-round resident on British heathland, it is one of the first birds to establish territories in January.
A large long-legged wading bird famous in folklore for delivering babies — about 19 species worldwide ranging from the white stork's chimney-top nests to the marabou's massive 3 m wingspan.
Africa and Asia's answer to the hummingbird — small, fast, and brilliantly iridescent nectar feeders that perch rather than hover, with long curved bills designed for specific flower shapes.
A graceful, fast-flying songbird that catches insects on the wing — the barn swallow nesting in human structures across the Northern Hemisphere, performing transcontinental migrations.
A large white waterfowl with an orange bill and an iconic curved neck, fiercely territorial and surprisingly aggressive despite its placid appearance.
A dark, scythe-winged aerial specialist that spends almost its entire life on the wing — eating, sleeping, bathing, and mating in flight — landing only to nest, making it the most aerial bird in the world.
That's our current list of birds starting with the letter S. We add new entries every week — if you have a favorite bird starting with S that isn't on this page, let us know and we'll write it up.
Looking for more? Try birds that end with S, or contain S anywhere in the name.