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With time spent outdoors more important than ever, there’s never been a better opportunity to
get to know the birds that call your garden home
There are 600 species of bird in Great Britain, and if ever there were a time to get out and learn how to identify the species you’re most likely to encounter in gardens, on balconies, or singing in the trees of local parks, it’s now. From size and colour to plumage and behaviour, there are plenty of ways to identify one bird from another, but don’t just rely on the way they look - in some cases, you might hear a bird long before you actually see it, so familiarise yourself with each species' song, and next time you listen to the dawn chorus or sunset serenade, you might just be able to tell exactly which birds are singing...
You’ll be able to spot adult males immediately, thanks to their glossy black feathers, orange-yellow beaks, and yellow eye rings. Females and younger birds are smaller than males, with brown, mottled plumage on the throat and chest.
Scientific name: Turdus merula
FAMILY: THRUSH
These colourful characters dart around gardens so quickly you might miss them at first, but keep a beady eye out for their small rounded black and white heads, blue skullcaps and yellowish green wings. They’re found in nine out of ten gardens, so chances are you might have seen one already.
Blue Tit
Scientific name: Cyanistes caeruleus
FAMILY: TITS
Bright and beautiful, male chaffinches have a blue-grey
cap, black and white wings, and a striking rust-red body.
Females aren’t quite as bright, but still feature the distinctive flashes of white on their wings, making them quite
easy to spot against a green backdrop.
Scientific name: Fringilla coelebs
FAMILY: FINCHES
With bright red faces, black and white heads, and sunny yellow wing stripes, it’s hard to miss these beautiful birds. They’re commonly spotted in gardens thanks to their eagerness to feed, so check out the bird feeder if you
have one - there’s likely to be a Goldfinch or two!
Scientific name: Carduelis carduelis
FAMILY: FINCHES
True to their name, these finches are green all over, with bright yellow patches on their wings and tail. Females are slightly duller in colour, but both sexes have pale pink beaks that are super sturdy to enable them to break through seed husks.
Scientific name: Carduelis chloris
FAMILY: FINCHES
Monochrome magpies need no introduction - their black
and white plumage is instantly recognisable, and as they’re among the largest common garden birds, they’re usually not too tricky to spot. If you manage to get a closer look at a magpie though, you’ll see that those ‘black’ feathers are actually iridescent and shimmer with blue, purple and green.
Scientific name: Pica pica
FAMILY: CROWS
There’s no mistaking these little brown birds with their striking red breasts, but their small size makes them harder to spot than their distinctive plumage would initially suggest.
Don’t always look in tree branches to find robins, as these cute little characters can also be found hopping along the ground.
Scientific name: Erithacus rubecula
FAMILY: OLD WORLD FLYCATCHERS & CHATS
Iridescent black plumage flecked with white characterises these medium-sized birds. Often to be found in a flock, you’ll see starlings swooping through the sky as well as running along the ground, and you’ll be able to spot them from
afar thanks to their distinctive triangular wings.
Scientific name: Sturnus vulgaris
FAMILY: STARLING
Soft grey with white patches and a red and yellow beak make wood pigeons stand out from other garden birds, but in urban settings, they tend to blend in - not least because they’re so commonly found in town and city centres.
Scientific name: Columba palumbus
FAMILY: PIGEONS & DOVES
Sparrows are a common sight throughout the UK, and are known for their endless ‘chatter’. Plumage is made up of several shades of brown, nude and grey, with white wing bars and pale cheek patches. Characterised by their inquisitive nature, sparrows are possibly the most
ubiquitous UK garden bird.
Scientific name: Passer domesticus
FAMILY: OLD WORLD SPARROWS
You’ll be able to spot adult males immediately, thanks to their glossy black feathers, orange-yellow beaks, and yellow eye rings. Females and younger birds are smaller than males, with brown, mottled plumage on the throat and chest.
Measurements:
Length:
Weight:
Wingspan:
Eats:
Earthworms, berries and insects
Listen out for:
Mellow and musical song, almost flute-like
24-25cm
34-38.5cm
80-100g
02
01
04
03
05
06
07
08
09
10
If you’d like to find out more about birdwatching and conservation,
take a look at rspb.org.uk, or woodlandtrust.org.uk
Blackbird
Words by Victoria Smith
You can often see blackbirds sunbathing. They spread their wings and lay on the ground.
It is thought that as they get older, Blue Tits get brighter plumage with each subsequent moult.
Chaffinches have accents - ones from France sing different songs to those in Britain.
Goldfinches are highly social, flocking soon after the breeding season has finished.
Finches love garden feeders, especially those filled with peanuts, sunflowers and other seeds.
Numbers of Magpies in suburban areas of Britain and Ireland have quadrupled in the last 35 years
Sparrows typically nest close to people but one nest was found nearly 200ft down a Yorkshire mine.
Robins are a gardeners' friend, hoping to find food in freshly turned-over soil.
Starlings' spectacular flocks and aerobatic displays are known as 'murmurations'.
A woodpigeon chick is known as a squab. They stay in the nest until almost fully grown.
If you'd like to find out more about the feathered friends in your garden and beyond, check
out the RSPB, the UK's largest conservation charity, and the Woodland Trust - the largest
woodland conservation charity in the UK. Both sites are full of information on how
you can protect birds and their habitats, ways you can attract them to your garden,
and how to make the most of the great outdoors.
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Measurements:
Length:
Wingspan:
Weight:
12cm
18cm
11g
Eats:
Caterpillars and insects
Listen out for:
High-pitched trilling
Blue Tit
Measurements:
Length: Wingspan: Weight:
14.5cm
24-28.5cm
18-29g
Eats:
Seeds, spiders and flies
Listen out for:
A loud, fast, repetitive song
Chaffinch
Measurements:
Length: Wingspan: Weight:
12-14cm
21-25.5cm
14-19g
Eats:
Seeds
A pretty, high ‘twittering’ call
Listen out for:
Goldfinch
Measurements:
Length:
Weight: Wingspan:
14-15cm
26cm
28g
Eats:
Seeds
Listen out for:
Short, fast, rattling song, or a long, drawn-out ‘weeee’
Greenfinch
Measurements:
Length:
Wingspan:
Weight:
44-46cm
52-60cm
200-250g
Eats:
Beetles, berries, flies, worms and spiders
A harsh, ascending call
Listen out for:
Magpie
Measurements:
Length:
Wingspan:
Weight:
14.5cm
21-25.5cm
24-38g
Eats:
Seeds
Listen out for:
Simple cheeps and chirrups
Sparrow
Measurements:
Length: Wingspan: Weight:
12.5-14cm
20-22cm
14-21g
Eats:
Worms, seeds and fruit
A ‘tut tut’ call or short, sweet warble
Listen out for:
Robin
Measurements:
Length: Wingspan: Weight:
20-23cm
37-42cm
75-90g
Eats:
Centipedes, worms and fruit
Listen out for:
Loud whistles or soft warbling
Starling
Measurements:
Length: Wingspan: Weight:
40-42cm
75-80cm
480-550g
Eats:
Seeds and grain
A distinctive, repetitive ‘coo cooo’
Listen out for:
Woodpigeon
Population:
UK breeding:
Habitat:
5,100,000 pairs
Gardens and parks
Population:
UK breeding:
Habitat:
3,600,000 territories
Woodland, parks and gardens
Population:
UK breeding:
Habitat:
6.2 million (plus 2 million in Ireland)
Gardens and hedgerows
Population:
UK breeding:
Habitat:
1.2 million pairs
Open ground and gardens
Population:
UK breeding:
Habitat:
1,700,000 pairs
Gardens, parks and woodland
Population:
UK breeding:
Habitat:
600,000 territories
Anywhere from your back garden to the centre of town
Population:
UK breeding:
Habitat:
5,300,000 pairs
Everywhere and anywhere
Population:
UK breeding:
Habitat:
6,700,000 territories
Gardens, parks, woodlands
Population:
UK breeding:
Habitat:
1.8 million
Urban and rural, from gardens and farms to town centres
Population:
UK breeding:
Habitat:
54,400,000 pairs
Everywhere
Population:
UK breeding:
Habitat:
5,100,000 pairs
Gardens and parks
Population:
UK breeding:
Habitat:
3,600,000 territories
Woodland, parks and gardens
Population:
UK breeding:
Habitat:
6.2 million (plus 2 million in Ireland)
Gardens and hedgerows
Measurements:
UK breeding: Habitat:
1.2 million pairs
Open ground and gardens
Population:
UK breeding: Habitat:
1,700,000 pairs
Gardens, parks and woodland
Population:
UK breeding: Habitat:
600,000 territories
Anywhere from your back garden to the centre of town
Population:
UK breeding: Habitat:
5,300,000 pairs
Everywhere and anywhere
Population:
UK breeding: Habitat:
6,700,000 territories
Gardens, parks, woodlands
Measurements:
UK breeding: Habitat:
1.8 million
Urban and rural, from gardens
and farms to town centres
Population:
UK breeding: Habitat:
54,400,000 pairs
Everywhere
Source: RSPB
Source: RSPB