Apart from the wren, the birds pictured on these two pages are all finches. Their stout bills indicate that they are essentially seed-eaters, although they are not averse to insects and spiders. Most of them feed their young with insects. The wren’s slender, pointed bill shows that it feeds mainly on small insects as it cannot crack hard seeds, but it can deal with most other foods.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Bullfinch (male)
Identification: Male easily identified by black cap and rosy underparts. Look for the white rump in flight. Female similar but duller.
Distribution: Resident everywhere.
Feeding habits: Buds, often removed from our fruit trees and bushes at a rate of 30 buds per minute, form up to 30 per cent of its diet in the spring. Soft fruit is attacked later in the year, so the bird is not usually welcome in the garden.
Nest: Usually low in a thick hedge or bush.
Notes: Birds mate for life; usually seen in pairs.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Siskin (male)
Identification: Yellow rump and tail flashes are conspicuous in flight. Female lacks the male’s black cap and bib and is streaky grey below.
Distribution: Resident in many wooded areas, but mainly a winter visitor to gardens.
Feeding habits: Particularly fond of the seeds of conifers and alders but readily takes peanuts from the bird table.
Nest: Usually high in coniferous trees.
Notes: Becoming increasingly common in British gardens in winter.
Colin Varndell
Serin (female)
Identification: Look for the tiny beak and the bright yellow rump in flight. Male has bright yellow head and breast. Female is duller, with brown streaks on the breast.
Distribution: A common town and garden bird in southern Europe, but a scarce summer visitor to the British Isles, mainly in the south.
Feeding habits: Feeds mainly on the ground.
Nest: In thick conifers or in citrus groves.
Notes: A rather restless bird.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Chaffinch (male)
Identification: Look for the broad white shoulder flash and wing bar. The male’s slate-blue head and rust-red face are very distinctive in summer but less bright in winter. The female is much browner.
Distribution: Resident everywhere.
Feeding habits: A regular visitor to garden feeding stations, but more often seen scouring the ground below than perching on the table.
Nest: A neat cup of moss and lichen wedged into the fork of a tree or shrub.
Notes: One of Britain’s commonest birds.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Goldfinch
Identification: Look for the red face and golden wing bars. The sexes are alike.
Distribution: Resident almost everywhere.
Feeding habits: Feeds mainly on the seeds of herbaceous plants, often balancing acrobatically on the flower-heads to pull out the seeds before they are ripe. The bird will also take crushed seeds from the bird table.
Nest: A neat cup built in a tree or tall shrub.
Notes: Most common in gardens in late summer and autumn, when the birds may form flocks.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Greenfinch (male)
Identification: Look for the narrow yellow edge to the wing. Male has a greyish-green back, but female has a brown tinge and dark streaks. Both sexes show yellow tail flashes in flight.
Distribution: Resident almost everywhere.
Feeding habits: Takes seeds from trees and many herbaceous plants, including sunflowers, and is very partial to peanuts. Also eats buds.
Nest: A bulky cup wedged in the fork of a tree or tall shrub, usually some kind of conifer.
Notes: Often forms small flocks in winter.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Wren
Identification: Plump and rounded, with tail often distinctively cocked. Look for the prominent eye-stripe and the dark bars on the wings and tail. The sexes are alike.
Distribution: Resident almost everywhere.
Feeding habits: Eats insects and spiders and also takes crumbs from under the bird table.
Nest: A ball of moss and leaves, usually built in some kind of hole: sometimes nests in tit-boxes.
Notes: Britain’s commonest bird, although not the commonest garden bird. Often mistaken for a mouse as its scuttles through the undergrowth.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Collared dove
Identification: Look for the conspicuous black collar on the delicate pinkish-grey plumage. The sexes are alike.
Distribution: Resident almost everywhere.
Feeding habits: Basically a grain-eater, the collared dove enjoys virtually all the vegetable foods that we offer, but rarely feeds other than on the ground.
Nest: A flimsy platform of twigs, usually in a tree but sometimes on a building.
Notes: Almost unknown in Europe 100 years ago, the collared dove now occurs almost all over the continent and its monotonous coo-cooo-cu can be heard in nearly every garden.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Starling
Identification: Essentially black with strong purple and green iridescence and pale spots. The latter are most obvious in winter and gradually disappear in spring as the tips of the feathers wear away. The rather long bill of the starling is yellow in summer and brown in winter. The young birds are dull brown. Starlings strut over the ground and do not hop in the way that most other garden birds do. The sexes are alike.
Distribution: Resident almost everywhere.
Feeding habits: Omnivorous, taking anything that is offered on the bird table: very fond of fallen apples in autumn. It is often regarded as a ‘bully’ because it commonly chases smaller birds away.
Nest: Usually in a hole in a wall or a tree, but also in well-concealed open-fronted nest boxes.
Notes: Forms huge roosting flocks in winter.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Jackdaw
Identification: The grey neck distinguishes this bird from other members of the crow family. The sexes are alike.
Distribution: Resident almost everywhere.
Feeding habits: Omnivorous, often seen tugging worms and insect grubs from lawns. It may kill and eat the nestlings of other birds, and also eats a lot of fruit, especially cherries.
Nest: An untidy accumulation of twigs, lined with wool and assorted plant fibres and usually built in a hole. Chimneys are often used, as are large open-fronted nest boxes.
Notes: The birds mate for life and are usually seen in pairs.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Pied wagtail (male)
Identification: Look for the long tail, the white forehead, and the black crown. Female is greyer. Throat of both sexes becomes white in winter.
Distribution: Resident in much of Western Europe: summer visitor in north and east.
Feeding habits: Insectivorous and most often seen snapping up insects on lawns or by ponds. Takes crumbs from the bird table in winter.
Nest: In holes, often in dry stone walls: may use open-fronted boxes if these are well concealed.
Notes: One of the few insectivorous species to stay with us through the winter, the bird is named for the vigorous wagging of its long tail.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Spotted flycatcher
Identification: Greyish-brown back and dirty white underparts which are streaked with brown. The sexes are alike.
Distribution: Summer visitor to all of Europe.
Feeding habits: Catches a variety of insects by darting out from a perch and snapping them up in mid-air. It usually returns to its perch to eat.
Nest: In holes or on ledges; readily uses open-fronted boxes.
Notes: May be confused with the dunnock (see here), but latter is browner and has red legs.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
House martin
Identification: Look for the black back, white rump, pure white underparts, and short, forked tail. The sexes are alike.
Distribution: Summer visitor to all of Europe, but most common around human habitation.
Feeding habits: Insectivorous and most often seen catching flies and other small insects in full flight high above the garden.
Nest: A mud cup fixed to cliffs and walls, under the eaves of buildings. The birds may also use boxes of the appropriate shape (see here).
Notes: Providing mud and feathers may encourage the birds to nest on your house.
Colin Varndell
Swallow
Identification: Look for the red face and throat and the long forked tail. The sexes are alike.
Distribution: Summer visitor to all of Europe; most common around farms and villages.
Feeding habits: Insectivorous, catching small insects in mid air, although usually flying at lower levels and often just above the ground.
Nest: A cup of mud and feathers, usually built on a ledge in or on a building.
Notes: Often drinks while skimming over the water surface.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Blackbird (male)
Identification: Male is glossy black with a yellow bill. Female is dark brown with faint spotting on the breast and a brown bill.
Distribution: Resident in most parts of Europe, but only a summer visitor in the north.
Feeding habits: Omnivorous, but especially fond of earthworms and fruit: a regular visitor at, or more often under, the bird table.
Nest: In shrubs, hedgerows and creepers; made largely with grass and mud.
Notes: One of Britain’s commonest birds.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Song thrush
Identification: Look for the plain brown back and the buff and white underparts heavily marked with more or less triangular black spots.
Distribution: Resident in most of western Europe, but only a summer visitor in the north.
Feeding habits: Omnivorous, taking lots of fruit and earthworms as well as finding plenty of interest on the bird table. But snails are a favourite food and the birds can often be heard smashing the shells against stones.
Nest: Built with grass and mud in shrubs, hedges and creepers.
Notes: Mistle thrush is greyer with more rounded spots.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Fieldfare
Identification: Look for the grey head and the heavily streaked buff breast. The pale grey rump is very conspicuous in flight. The sexes are alike.
Distribution: Breeds in northern and central Europe, but a winter visitor to most other parts.
Feeding habits: Scours gardens and hedgerows for fruit in winter and may come to the bird table. Worms and insects are eaten in summer.
Nest: A bulky cup of mud and grass, built anywhere from the ground to the tree tops.
Notes: Forms large flocks in cold winters.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Blackcap (female)
Identification: Male has a sooty black crown; female crown is rust-red. The other plumage is brown or grey, with no black on the throat.
Distribution: Resident in south-west Europe, including southern Britain and Ireland; a summer visitor elsewhere.
Feeding habits: Insects and spiders are main foods in spring and summer, but fruits and seeds dominate in autumn, with elderberries being a great favourite.
Nest: Low down in thick shrubs and hedgerows.
Notes: Once only a summer visitor to the British Isles, it is now resident in some places and we also get winter visitors from central Europe.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Green woodpecker
Identification: The red crown and green back are unmistakable. The sexes are alike.
Distribution: Resident in most wooded parts of Europe except Ireland and the far north.
Feeding habits: The green woodpecker sometimes digs insects from tree trunks, but is usually seen quartering the lawn in search of its favourite food – ants.
Nest: A hole excavated in a tree trunk.
Notes: Its loud, chuckling call has given the bird its alternative name of yaffle.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Great spotted woodpecker
Identification: Look for the deep red patch under the tail and the large white wing patch. Only the male has a red spot at the back of the head.
Distribution: Resident in wooded areas almost all over Europe but not in Ireland.
Feeding habits: Digs insects from tree trunks and eats nuts and seeds. Delights in removing peanuts you care to wedge into bark crevices.
Nest: A hole excavated in a tree trunk; will use tit boxes after enlarging the opening.
Notes: Lesser spotted woodpecker is much smaller; male has a red crown but there is never any red underneath.
CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
Nuthatch
Identification: Blue-grey crown and back, rusty brown underparts and black eye-stripe. The sexes are alike.
Distribution: Resident in most of Europe, but not Ireland or northern Britain.
Feeding habits: Digs insects and spiders from bark crevices and wedges in hazel nuts before hammering them open with its sturdy beak.
Nest: In tree holes, but readily accepts tit boxes.
Notes: The only bird that can run down a tree trunk as easily as it can climb up.
