Green Holidays

Right then, lets get straight to it so you can enjoy these garden visitors a bit more – knowing what they are and therefore, a lot more about them.

There are plenty of birds that will visit your garden – whether or not you have a nut or seed feeder about the place. Obviously this will help to attract them in the first place, but your garden large or small will always have birds in it.

Here, we will be focusing on those that will probably visit your garden in the course of week to feed on insects, plants and any food you might have left out for them…… and that have a bright colouring or distinctive markings to help you identify them!

Chaffinch:
Let’s start with a bird that is quite common and easy to identify to kick off with – well the male is anyway. The female of the species is not so obvious at first glance – but if you know the markings of the male, then you can see similar markings on the duller females and they start to stand out from the crowd.

Male Chaffinches have a noticably orange body – not as bright red as the male Bullfinch or as neat and tidy as the Robins bib – but it’s a clear give-away as not many UK garden birds have this colouring matched with such clear white markings on the wings and tail (in flight).

photo credit: Keith Laverack

Bullfinch:
As mentioned above, these birds (males only) have an impressively red breast! This breast is so solid and clearly defined that once you see one you can’t deny that you did. The rest of their body appears black and they have a very stubby-looking head and beak and clear black cap.

photo credit: chapmankj75

The female is exactly the same stubby shape as the male and has exactly the same markings and colours as the male – apart from the red breast. Instead she has a greyish body colour, but they are often seen in pairs or small groups so you should be able to see both sexes close together.

Goldfinch
There is no mistaking the red face patches on these birds when they arrive on your seed feeder! This red is either side of the beak and on a simple but striking black and white head. You will also see a strong yellow colouring on the wings both when perched and when in flight.

Both the male and female have this clear colouring and they just love small seeds to feast upon including thistles, niger and burdocks – and make a great picture while they do it!

photo credit: sarniebill1

Greenfinch:
Another finch that will just love your garden for it’s ready supply of food! Although it doesn’t have the bright colours of any of the finches above – it is a solid green colour with clear yellow bands on the wings that you can’t miss – particularly in flight.

Just like other finches, it has the split tail feathers when perched, as well as a strong solid beak to crack open seeds – particularly black sunflowers and pine cones.

photo credit: chapmankj75

Ring-neck Parakeet:
These very noisy birds are a delight to see when you are visiting the London area – however residents might have other words to describe them! This ‘exotic’ species can be found roosting in huge (noisy) numbers and can cause a great deal of damage to feeders, gardens and other suitable feeding areas.

photo credit: Shawn McCready

They have the ability to utilise a large variety of feedstuffs and can be found almost anywhere in the busy city – which is a great attraction for those living elsewhere. You will hear them before you see them, but when you do see them, you won’t be able to tear yourself away!

There are other native birds that appear bright green (including green woodpeckers and the greenfinch above) – but with their long tails, parrot-like faces and a bright red beak – you’ll know a parakeet when you see it.

And once you see one amongst the green leaves – you might find yourself looking at 100 all in the same tree! I mean, there are 2 in the image below – can you spot them?

photo credit: robmcm

So, that’s your brightly coloured garden dwellers – but what about those that look a bit more dull – or a lot alike….

Let’s look at the remaining 5 species of Tit; 3 of which are virtually the same size, shape and black/white and buff colours…..

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Did you know that it is illegal in the UK for you to take a close-up photo of a baby barn owl?

This little known law is part of the Wildlife & Countryside Act (1981) where there is a list of species that receive full protection of the law – and this protection includes reducing the disturbance of the nesting young or recently fledged young of all the species on it – and this includes Barn Owls.

It also includes other seemingly random species such as Brambling, Fieldfare, Firecrest, Kingfisher, Bewick’s Swan and even the little Crested Tit!

All these species are among the 80+ protected wild bird species that frequent the UK, which can be native or just passing through.

There is, of course, already a law to protect all wildbirds from being intentionally injured, killed or taken from the wild – and the same goes for their eggs – but there are some exceptions.

In the case of the Barn Owl and the Kingfisher – they are for greater protection; whereas in the case of the Mallard or Woodcock – it means lesser protection at certain times!

photo credit: U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Northeast Region

These schedules also cater for captive-bred ‘wild bird’ species such as birds of prey and other more common species such as Magpies, Blackbirds and Goldfinches. And also the sale of wildbirds that have been killed legally and the rehabilitation of injured birds.

Game birds are not covered by these particualar laws however, but are covered under the separate Game Bird Act, which fully protects them outside of the Open Season.

The Bird Schedules:
There are 4 such catagories (which may have several parts) which cover those endangered birds to be protected as well as those species which can be killed or sold, and they lay out as follows:

Schedule 1: Full protection at all times (or during the close season for a specific 4 species). To get close to young, nesting or breeding birds in this list – you will need a licence (or you can visit them in specific reserves).

Schedule 2: Birds which may be killed or taken outside of the close season only – but not sold – basically to be killed to protect crops or other interests or to be killed for food or for sale as per Schedule 3.

Schedule 3: Birds which may be sold; either dead at specific times, or alive if captive bred and legally ringed. These include certain ducks and wood pidgeons to be sold dead; and siskins, song thrushes and other ‘garden’ birds that can be kept as ‘pets’ and displayed at bird shows.

Schedule 4: Captive Bred birds which must be registered and ringed if in captivity (mainly raptors). These birds need to be registered and you must have genuine proof of breeding and hatching. If you find an injured bird that happens to be listed on Schedule 4 – even if you intend to re-release it shortly – you should inform the appropriate authority as they may need to be registered.

photo credit: luc.viatour

Your Actions:
So next time you see the opportunity to photograph any nesting bird – think about what that means.

If they have made a law that specifically prevents human from getting close enough to a Schedule 1 species – as it would disturb them – think again for all birds and other wildlife!

If they think that getting that close could prevent birds from nesting at all or may make them to abandon existing young – then what harm are you doing being that close to any species?

Even with the fantastic zooms on cameras these days – you still have to be quite close to get a great shot – so what if you got a great shot of a nest, but after you left all the young starved to death after you had scared the parents off!

When trying to film or photograph nesting birds – or any birds really – it is best to set up a hide (or use one at a reserve). Birds get used to them and so aren’t so affected by all the keen photographers snapping away at them. And some reserves set up hides to be really close to the action just for this reason.

So, if you are going to enter a photgraphic competition with your nest shot – make sure it’s not a Schedule 1 species – otherwise they may ask to see your licence………. and I’m sure you don’t want the associated £5000 fine and accompanying prison sentence instead of first prize!

You know the first 5 inside-out do you? Good Stuff!

Let us move on then……

So now you come to some more common birds – but these ones aren’t so obvious at first glance. You may have to look at them for a bit longer than the first 5 – or have some binoculars to hand too!

There are 2 sets of pairs here; 2 sets of birds that look quite similar until you can pick out the obvious differences.

And then of course you need to remember which one is which!

So lets look at the next 5 species and see what you think…..

Blue Tit:
This tiny garden lover is very common on garden feeders, and is not so easy to tell apart from the larger (but also blue-bodied Great Tits) for beginners.

Although they have a solid blue ‘caps’ seperated from their body colour by a black line running through their eye – they move so fast that you can’t alwasy make it out – especially if there are several birds on the feeder.

photo credit: chapmankj75

In fact to begin with it’s easier to learn what a Great Tit looks like – as it has much bolder colours and markings – and then you know it’s not that, so it must be a Blue Tit.

Great Tit:
Easy markers for these larger tits is the fact that they have a very dark head and neck – and a large white cheek patch. They also have a clear solid black chest line from their chins to their underbellies!

Try to find a garden feeder with both Blue and Great Tits feeding to see these differences first hand. And of course the Great Tits are much larger as well when you see them side by side!

photo credit: Chris Isherwood

Moorhen:
If you are out on the water – then you will no doubt have seen a small black bird walking about the waters edge with large feet. It might be on the water trying to get away from you as fast as it can.

Now this is one of 2 birds; if it has a red bill it is a moorhen – remember ‘R’ as in Moorhen. It will also have big yellow feet if you take a look.

photo credit: brian.gratwicke

Coot:
If it has a white bill and face plate – it will be a Coot (just remember ‘Red’ for moo’R'hen – then you will know it is a coot!). These birds are much larger than moorhens, but you might not see them together to compare so just go by the face. They also have grey legs and feet too if you get a chance to look at them walking over weeds.

photo credit: shimgray

Starling:
These noisy little birds tend to hang around in groups and will raid any food source that they come across! They are mainly black in appearance, but it depends on when you are watching them. In winter on closer inspection, you will see that they are a mottled pattern of brownish feathers spotted with creamy-brown patches all over, wheras in the summer they sport a rather metallic appearance of shiny greens, blues and purples with only residual spotting on the upper back and lower underside.

photo credit: marlin harms

They can look like other birds from a distance in your garden, but their extensive vocal range and large numbers usually gives them away as not your normal garden bird.

Now you have the basics, lets move on to some garden specialists in our next installment!

If you took part in the recent RSPB garden count – you may well have started on your way to spotting the 270 birds commonly found in the UK.

So why not keep it up?

I have put together this series of informative posts to help you through all the easy species, first. Then there will be the ones that you need to go on a walk to see and gradually we will get onto the birds that you will have to seek out for yourself – like the elusive White-tailed Eagle or the niche dwelling Capercaillie!

There is nothing better sometimes than knowing what a bird is by just checking off 1 sign, like ‘it has a red stripe so it must be a ????’ or ‘it has yellow legs so will be a ????’ Sometimes once you know the general appearance of a bird ‘type’ like a sparrow, warbler or grebe, you can seperate the individual species by just 1 thing.

And these guides will not focus on all the latin names and scientific groupings etc; there will be no use of fancy ornithological words like ornitholigical, tertial tip or emargination. Just easy to use visual descriptions of the birds that you will see while out walking in the woods, wetlands or your own back garden!

But to start you off before we lose you in geese and gulls; we will list the top 5 birds that you may well have seen this week or have probably already seen at some point in your life!

Robin:
This one is easy to spot with it’s bright red breast – and you can easily pick them out in the snow as they are quite bold little birds and use human garden tools and furniture from which to spy their insect prey! And they will come close to humans too if you feed them…..

photo credit: fwooper

Blackbird:
Another common species that just loves to run around garden edges looking for food under leaves and garden waste. The males are black with orange or yellow bills and feet, where the females are browner in colour. You can spot them from their loud warning call as you scare them off…..

photo credit: Keith Laverack

Magpie:
A larger bird that has such distinctive colouring that you will know when you have seen one. Their black and white plumage and their flap-flap-flap-then glide flight pattern will have you ticking off this species in a flash!

photo credit: goingslo

Pheasant:
If you live near the countryside or walk your dog in the fresh air, then you will no doubt have seen a rather handsome brown bird with a perfect white collar around his neck, large red wattles and nice long tail feathers – this is your male pheasant. Females have the same long tail and also frequent large country gardens, footpaths and cultivated fields but don’t have the fancy head! They both fly off clumsily and noisily when you get too close!

photo credit: gerrybuckel

Mute Swan:
I used to live on a canal and could see these all day long – but if you live elsewhere they aren’t difficult to find on any large body of fresh water, like a river, canal, lake or in a local nature reserve. Out of all the swans in the UK, the Mute Swan is the easiest to identify by its bill alone (handy really as all 3 common swans are totally white); it is the only one that has an orange bill which has a large knob of black on the top where it meets the eyes.

photo credit: TossMyPancake

So, if you have already seen these ones, then join me for the next 5 real soon – and make sure that you have seen these all again outside and that you know them inside out – as many other birds look very similar to them but for one or two small details. So only when you know these well can you learn some of the others coming on the list!

Grab your camera and document your journey if you like – it can make your travels more memorable.

See you soon…..

And if you want to know more about the fancy terms and descriptions used to identify birds, please look for my Bird Identification Guides – Technical Data series.