BIRDS WE FIND IN THE GARDEN:
There are many types of birds that can be found in your garden at home. Some of the most common ones are the:
House sparrow
Robin
Chaffinch
Blackbird
Great tit
Robin
Each year the RSPB organises the Big Garden Birdwatch, an annual event which uses volunteers to count the birds they see in their garden. This means that they can record the bird activity in different areas to see if any are endangered or need help.
Large garden birds such as magpies, carrion crows, collared doves and jackdaws are often seen. They are quite hard to miss because they appear so often and are very distinctive birds.
Small birds can be a little bit harder to spot but appear just as often as larger birds, if not more because they hang around the same bird feeders as they are very territorial creatures, especially during mating season.
BIRD FAMILIES:
Some bird families are incredibly common and are seen in large numbers. These families include a large array of -tits such as blue tits, great tits, coal tits, and long- tail tits. They can be found in trees in gardens near bird feeders. We also find them in hedgerows, streams, rivers and woodland areas where they feed from small insects and fish.
BIRDS WE FIND NEAR WATER:
A common selection of water birds include:
Moorhens
Mandarin ducks
Mallard ducks
Swans
Canadian geese
Coots
Various types of ducks are found in many different types of water. Swans and geese are very common and are mainly found in lakes, ponds and wide, slow moving rivers.
Some rarer birds that we don't see as often include:
Kingfishers
Grebes
Grey Herons
Stalks
Small Egrets
Kingfishers are beautiful, blue birds with bright orange chests and long thin beaks. They hunt mainly in rivers and streams catching small fish such as minoes and small trout. To catch them, they swoop down low to the water and all you can see is a flash of blue as they swerve up and fly off with their prey.
SEA BIRDS:
Gannet
Puffin
Sea Eagle
Kitty wake
Gull
Cormarent
These birds are found all over Britain on cliffs and hills going into the sea. They catch fish out at sea and bring them back to their young on the shore where they nest.