Robin (Erithacus rubecula)
The UK's favourite bird - with its bright red breast it is familiar
throughout the year and especially at Christmas! Males and females
look identical, and young birds have no red breast and are spotted
with golden brown. Robins sing nearly all year round and despite their
cute appearance, they are aggressively territorial and are quick to
drive away intruders.
Eats: Worms, seeds, fruits, insects and other invertebrates.
Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
The goldfinch is a highly coloured finch with a bright red face and
yellow wing patch. Sociable, often breeding in loose colonies, they
have a delightful liquid twittering song and call. Their long fine
beaks allow them to extract otherwise inaccessible seeds from thistles
and teasels. Increasingly they are visiting bird tables and feeders.
In winter many UK goldfinches migrate as far south as Spain.
Eats: The goldfinch is a specialist seed feeder. Its fine beak is
perfectly adapted to extracting seeds from plants such as thistles and
teasels.
Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)
A colourful mix of blue, yellow, white and green makes the blue tit
one of our most attractive and most recognisable garden visitors. In
winter, family flocks join up with other tits as they search for food.
A garden with four or five blue tits at a feeder at any one time may
be feeding 20 or more.
Eats: Insects, caterpillars, seeds and nuts.
Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
This is a small, black crow with a distinctive silvery sheen to the
back of its head. The pale eyes are also noticeable. The jackdaw call
is a familiar hard 'tchack' from which it gets its name. It will
commonly nest in chimneys, buildings, rock crevices and tree holes.
Eats: Insects, young birds and eggs, fruit, seeds and scraps.
Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)
About blackbird-sized and striking black-and-white. It has a very
distinctive bouncing flight and spends most of its time clinging to
tree trunks and branches, often trying to hide on the side away from
the observer. Its presence is often announced by its loud call or by
its distinctive spring 'drumming' display. The male has a distinctive
red patch on the back of the head and young birds have a red crown.
Eats: Insects, seeds and nuts.
Blackbird (Turdus merula)
The males live up to their name but, confusingly, females are brown
often with spots and streaks on their breasts. The bright
orange-yellow beak and eye-ring make adult male blackbirds one of the
most striking garden birds. One of the most common UK birds, its
mellow song is also a favourite.
Eats: Diet consists of a variety of insects and worms, but they also
eat berries and fruit when in season.