On one of my trips home, I picked up a copy of the Kingfisher (so prescient!) Field Guide to the Birds of Britain & Ireland, by John Gooders.

After subtracting the sea birds, shore birds, various gulls, and plovers, I came up with an interesting list of mostly land birds which exist in both the UK and the US.

Here's what I found:

Circus cyaneus; Hen Harrier = Northern Harrier
Aquila chrysaetos; Golden Eagle = Golden Eagle
Accipiter gentilis; Goshawk = Northern Goshawk
Buteo lagopus; Rough-legged Buzzard = Rough-legged Hawk
Falco columbarius; Merlin = Merlin
Falco peregrinus; Peregrine = Peregrine
Pandion haliaetus; Osprey = Osprey

Lagopus lagopus; Red Grouse = Willow Ptarmigan (as a subspecies of Willow Ptarmigan)
Lagopus mutus; Ptarmigan = Rock Ptarmigan

Gallinula chloropus; Moorhen = Common Moorhen

Tyto alba; Barn Owl = Barn Owl
Asio flammeus; Short-eared Owl = Short-eared Owl
Asio otus; Long-eared Owl = Long-eared Owl

Eremophilia alpestris; Shore Lark = Horned Lark
Riparia riparia; Sand Martin = Bank Swallow
Hirundo rustica; Swallow = Barn Swallow

Bombycilla garrulus; Waxwing = Bohemian Waxwing

Lanius excubitor; Great Grey Shrike = Northern Shrike
Pica pica; Magpie = Black-billed Magpie
Corvus corax; Raven = Raven

Carduelis flammea; Redpoll = Redpoll

Loxia curvirostra; Crossbill = Red Crossbill

Plectrophenax nivalis; Snow Bunting = Snow Bunting

Troglodytes troglodytes; Wren = Winter Wren

I have seen all these birds either in the UK, or in the US. A number of them have been seen in both the UK and the US. I found it interesting that I have managed to spot all the birds common to both areas, especially as some of the birds are not that common, at least not common in the US.

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Well there's a fair few in that list that I've never seen Kingfisher! You're very lucky to have had first hand experience of spotting all those birds

Congratulations on seeing them all, I think I've seen a fair few of them in the UK, but definitely not all.

It's interesting how while most of the names are the same or very similar, some are completely different.

An interesting list of birds. The only one I haven't managed to see yet in the UK is the Goshawk, which is rather daft really as one of the best places to see them is not many miles from my home!

I have not seen a few brids on that less, the one I'd really like to but haven't is the Merlin.

I have seen Merlins only twice in my life. Fortunately, both spottings were excellent viewings, so I know positively that they were both Merlins.

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