Neottia nidus-avis(L.) Rich.

Bird's-nest orchid

WFO wfo-0000250588 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Neottia nidus-avis, photographed by Stefan Haag
fig. a Stefan Haag, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-11 / obs. 205226181
Neottia nidus-avis, photographed by Katrin Simon
fig. b Katrin Simon, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203789105
Neottia nidus-avis, photographed by CorentinD
fig. c CorentinD, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 202728285
Neottia nidus-avis, photographed by Eugene Popov
fig. d Eugene Popov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 201848135
Neottia nidus-avis, photographed by Elias
fig. e Elias, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 201294150
Neottia nidus-avis, photographed by Paul Braun
fig. f Paul Braun, CC0 1.0 / obs. 199999332
Neottia nidus-avis, photographed by Elias
fig. g Elias, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 198148521
Neottia nidus-avis, photographed by Дауд Арсанукаев
fig. h Дауд Арсанукаев, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 196269095

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 47 botanical countries

Regions where Neottia nidus-avis is native: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Altay, Iran, Krasnoyarsk, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, West Siberia, Albania, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AlgeriaMoroccoTunisiaAltayIranKrasnoyarskNorth CaucasusTranscaucasusTürkiyeWest SiberiaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIrelandItalyKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine BalearesSardegna
Native distribution of Neottia nidus-avis, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baleares BAL
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Iran IRN
Krasnoyarsk KRA
North Caucasus NCS
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
West Siberia WSB
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Morocco MOR
Tunisia TUN

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 28 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Distomaea nidus-avis (L.) Spenn.
  • Epipactis nidus-avis (L.) Crantz
  • Helleborine nidus-avis (L.) F.W.Schmidt
  • Helleborine succulenta F.W.Schmidt
  • Listera nidus-avis (L.) Curtis
  • Listera nidus-avis Hook.
  • Malaxis nidus-avis (L.) Bernh.
  • Neottia macrostelis Peterm.
  • Neottia nidus-avis f. brachystelis Peterm.
  • Neottia nidus-avis f. brunnea J.Weiss
  • Neottia nidus-avis f. dilatata Zapał.
  • Neottia nidus-avis f. glandulosa (Beck) Hegi
  • Neottia nidus-avis f. glandulosa Beck
  • Neottia nidus-avis f. macrostelis Peterm.
  • Neottia nidus-avis f. micrantha Zapał.
  • Neottia nidus-avis f. nivea (Magnus ex M.Schulze) Hegi
  • Neottia nidus-avis f. pallida (Wirtg.) Hegi
  • Neottia nidus-avis f. sulphurea J.Weiss
  • Neottia nidus-avis lus. nivea (Magnus ex M.Schulze) Asch. & Graebn.
  • Neottia nidus-avis lus. pallida (Wirtg.) Asch. & Graebn.
  • Neottia nidus-avis lus. sulphurea (J.Weiss) Asch. & Graebn.
  • Neottia nidusavis var. nivea Magnus ex M.Schulze
  • Neottia nidusavis var. pallida Wirtg.
  • Neottia orobanchoidea St.-Lag.

and 4 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.