Common garden birds

10 common birds in your garden

Here are the 10 most common garden birds and advice on how to spot them

House Sparrow

Crowned as 2017’s most common garden bird, the house sparrow is best known for its noisy song. Their grey breast and brown wings make them easy to identify.

Starling

Known for being a social bird, starlings are often found flying in a flock. Keep an eye out for its distinctive speckled, metallic feathers and bright yellow beak.

Blackbird

True to their name, male blackbirds can be spotted easily thanks to their black feathers and bright yellow beak. However, the female blackbirds are speckled brown.

Blue tit

The blue tit’s striking blue and yellow feathers make this little bird easy to spot in any garden. These birds are resident, and rarely wander far from their birth place.

Wood pigeon

Part of the dove family, the wood pigeon has a small, round head and large grey breast. Listen out for the woodpigeon’s coo.

Goldfinch

The goldfinch is easy to spot with its distinctive red head and bright yellow wings. In winter, many UK goldfinches migrate to south-west Europe. Goldfinches are often attracted by feeders containing niger seeds.

Robin

The nation’s favourite, robins stand out because of their red breast and spotted brown wings – and they sing almost all year round.

Great tit

Not to be confused with the blue tit, the great tit is easily recognisable by its yellow breast, blue and green wings, and black and white head.

Chaffinch

The chaffinch can be hard to spot amongst the bushes, as its patterned feathers can keep it well camouflaged. Listen out for their loud song, which will let you know when they’re nearby.

Long-tailed tit

This tiny bird can be spotted because of its very long and narrow tail. Its feathers are black, white, grey and pink and they tend to move in sociable groups that call to each other continually.

This is just a sample of some of the birds you might see in your garden. For full details of other species, and to take part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, please visit www.rspb.org.uk

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