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The UK Bird Atlas

Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)Where and when to see it in the UK

Status not yet classified · reporting peaks August · Sandpipers and Allies · BOU category AF

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

Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
Whimbrel: 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.

Whimbrel has been recorded in 1,328 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (45%) in records to 2026. Its strongest squares are in England, Scotland and Wales. Reporting peaks in August.

Conservation status: Not Evaluated (IUCN Red List, NE)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
23% or more of visits
High
8% to 23%
Moderate
2% to 8%
Low
under 2%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 2%<1%Very high
February 3%<1%Very high
March 3%<1%Low
April 76%5%Very high
May 79%5%Very high
June 12%<1%Low
July 66%4%Very high
August 100%6%Very high
September 44%3%Moderate
October 12%<1%Low
November 3%<1%Very high
December 2%<1%Very high

Squares with the highest reporting rate in August

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
C94Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D22Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D30Mid and East Antrim, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D40Mid and East Antrim, Northern Ireland100%Very high
HP61Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HU25Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HU32Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HU38Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HU47Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HU59Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high

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.