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Recognising visitors to your feeders
Recognising your garden visitors can be a massively rewarding but frustrating task. Especially when you catch only the slightest glimpse of a bird as it flits away from your feeder.
To learn to distinguish garden birds by their calls and songs check out the Breathing Places guide to the dawn chorus with Chris Packham, or listen again to Radio 4's entertaining and practical series, A Guide to Woodland Birds.
Wood mouse
Also known as the long-tailed field mouse, the wood mouse has sandy brown fur and a buff white belly. They have larger ears, eyes and hind feet than house mice and are very similar to the rarer yellow-necked field mouse which is distinguished by a yellow collar and patch on its chest.
They are nocturnal and so rarely seen, but live in a variety of habitats including woodlands, hedgerows and gardens. They usually eat seeds, nuts, and fruit, but will also eat insects and worms when these are scarce. They are known to cache food in their nests for the winter.
Nuthatch
Nuthatches feed on nuts and seeds and can be aggressive to other birds at feeders. They have a blue-grey back and orangey breast, and a dark stripe through each eye. They are great climbers and often cling upside-down to trees and feeders. Some think they look like small woodpeckers and they do sometimes peck at nuts pushed into cracks in bark.
Coal tit
The smallest european tit, coal tits are often seen in mixed flocks with other tits and small birds. They are distinguished by the white patch on the back of their black heads. They also have white cheeks, an olive-grey back and buff underside. They are similar in appearance to willow and marsh tits, except for having white wing-bars.
Blue tit
Blue tits are common at garden feeders, particularly attracted to peanuts. They are colourful birds with yellow underparts and blue-grey wings. They can be distinguished from other tits by the blue cap on their white heads and a black streak through the eye across their white cheeks. Juveniles are a darker yellow. Blue tits are bold at feeders but will defer to the larger great tit in the pecking order.
Marsh tit
Easily confused with willow tits, marsh tits have black caps and bibs, and are brown with paler underparts. Marsh tits have a neater, smaller bib and glossier black cap, and willow tits have a thicker neck and rounder head. They feed mainly on nuts and seeds in autumn and winter, and are quite low down the pecking order, so less likely to spend time on the feeders, prefering to take a nut or seed and feed nearby.
Long-tailed tit
Long tailed tits are very distinctive, so are easy to recognise. They have long tails and fluffy bodies, with plumage that is a combination of dark brown, white, cream and pinkish buff. They are sociable and often travel in flocks of about 20 birds. They feed mostly on insects and berries, but are increasingly feeding on peanut feeders in gardens.
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Great spotted woodpeckers are our most common and widespread woodpecker. About the size of a blackbird, they have distinctive black and white plumage. Males have a red patch on the back of the head and juveniles have a red cap. These birds are attracted to peanut feeders and tables and will also be seen drumming their long sharp beaks into tree trunks. They are good climbers and have large feet.
Goldfinch
The goldfinch is brightly coloured with a red face on an otherwise black and white head, and distinctive bright yellow wing patches. Juveniles are streaked tawny brown without the red face. They have sharp pointed beaks, ideal for extracting seeds from thistles, teasels and dandelions. They visit gardens in small flocks and are increasingly common at feeders.
Greenfinch
Greenfinches are one of the commonest members of the finch family, and are frequent visitors to gardens. They are comfortable alongside humans, and are regular visitors to seed and peanut feeders. They are mainly green, with yellow in their wings and tail. Females and juveniles are duller and have darker streaks on their back.
Chaffinch
One of Britain's commonest breeding birds; chaffinches are frequent visitors to gardens. They either feed on the lawn, or take seed and nuts from feeders. They have striking double white wing bars. Males have a pink-orange breast and cheeks, blue-grey crown and nape, and chestnut brown back. Females look like a duller version of the males and are buff coloured below.
Bullfinch
Male bullfinches are very recognisable. They have a black cap, grey back and cherry-pink throat, belly and breast. Females look similar, but more monochrome. Both sexes show a distinctive white rump in flight. They are shy, secretive birds, and are best looked for on woodland edges.
Hawfinch
Our largest finch here in the UK, the hawfinch is also very shy and seldom seen. It has bright chestnut-orange and brown body with blue-black wings and a broad white wing bar. They have particularly large and powerful bills for crushing seeds, buds and shoots.
Siskin
Siskins are sometimes confused with greenfinches but they are much smaller, around the size of a blue tit. Males have streaky yellow-green bodies, a black crown and bib and yellow patches in their wings and tail. Females look similar, but have more subdued plumage. They are often seen in flocks and are especially keen on seed and nut feeders in gardens.
Robin
A well known garden visitor, the robin has a distinctive orange face and breast with brown upperparts. Robins are ground feeders but will visit bird tables, preferring soft fruit, seeds and invertebrates. Despite their friendly appearance they are aggressively territorial.
Blackbird
A familiar sight in many gardens, blackbirds will be seen pulling worms from the ground and eating berries. Males are all black with a distinctive yellow bill and ring around the eye but females are brown, often with soft streaking on the breast. Blackbirds are very vocal and have a rich melodious song.
Wren
Our most common breeding bird, the wren is a tiny plump character with chestnut-brown plumage, lighter on their underparts, and a short up-turned tail. Wrens are regular garden visitors, hopping along the ground eating insects and spiders. They occasionally visit bird feeders for seeds.
Webcasting schedule
We hope you've enjoyed watching our woodland feeders. Thursday 19 November was the last day of webcasting. If you missed anything, the highlights will be available online soon.
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