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The UK Bird Atlas

Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus)Where and when to see it in the UK

Scarce migrant · reporting peaks October · Thrushes and Allies · BOU category A

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus)
Matt Reinbold from Bismarck, ND, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Too few records to rate squares by month. Each marked square has at least one record; the table below gives the count and years.

Swainson's Thrush: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Swainson's Thrush has been recorded in 18 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (1%) in records to 2026. Scarce migrant in the UK. Reporting peaks in October.

Conservation status: Not Evaluated (IUCN Red List, NE)
View on the IUCN Red List

Records by 10 km square

SquareWhereRecordsYearsVerified
SV81Isles of Scilly, England672020 to 2022unverified
HU48Shetland Islands, Scotland142022unverified
HU59Shetland Islands, Scotland12022unverified
NF86Na h-Eileanan Siar, Scotland12022unverified
SV90Isles of Scilly, England12020unverified
HU58Shetland Islands, Scotland52018unverified
HU69Shetland Islands, Scotland122007 to 2016unverified
HU44Shetland Islands, Scotland12016unverified
SM70Pembrokeshire, Wales132015unverified
HP60Shetland Islands, Scotland22003 to 2015unverified
HY64Orkney Islands, Scotland12015unverified
HY74Orkney Islands, Scotland12015unverified
HP61Shetland Islands, Scotland32003 to 2014unverified
NF70Na h-Eileanan Siar, Scotland12012unverified
HU42Shetland Islands, Scotland72010 to 2011unverified
HU41Shetland Islands, Scotland52011unverified
SV80Sea, off Isles of Scilly12004unverified
SV91Isles of Scilly, England322000unverified

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.