Home»Iceland_2015»Iceland- Birds, flora and fauna 2015

Iceland has less than 100 species of bird breeding or commonly occurring on passage. In addition there are another 200 species known to occur as occasional visitors, vagrants or very rare accidentals. Many of Iceland's breeding wildfowl and shorebirds winter in the British Isles. These include Whooper Swans, geese, Plovers, Godwits, Whimbrels, etc. Many other species use Iceland as a stopping off point on the way further north, and on the way back.There is only one native land mammal, the Arctic Fox. This is thought to have come to Iceland from Greenland on ice floes. Other "wild" species like Black and Brown Rats, Wood and House Mice, Rabbits, and Reindeer were introduced by humans in the last 1000 years.