Garden wildlife

From badgers to butterflies and frogs to foxes, garden wildlife is both varied and surprising. More diverse than the rainforest and covering an area larger than all the UK nature reserves combined, gardens are essential green spaces where wildlife can thrive. Whether you own a balcony or back yard, window box or manicured lawn, this collection pulls together video clips of your favourite garden visitors.

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38 video clips in this collection

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View all 38 video clips

Animals in this collection

  • Close-up of a slow worm's head Slow worm

    Slow worms look superficially like snakes, but are actually legless lizards.

  • Rose aphids on a plant stem Aphids

    Aphids are the bane of gardeners and farmers alike.

  • A brown rat Brown rat

    Brown rats are the scourge of many a farm and town.

  • Bumble bee with full pollen sacs, in flight Bumblebees

    Vital pollinators of...

  • Seven-spot ladybird on fennel flowers Seven-spot ladybird

    Seven-spot ladybirds are, or should be, a gardener's best friend as they are natural...

  • A seven spot ladybird on a flower Ladybirds

    Ladybirds should be the gardener's favourite family of beetles as, with the exception of...

  • Male blackbird standing at edge of water Blackbird

    Blackbirds are ground feeders pulling worms and pecking at insects and berries at the...

  • Portrait of a common European toad Common toad

    Common toads secrete an irritant from their skin that prevents most predators from...

  • Grey squirrel standing up on its hind legs Grey squirrel

    Grey squirrels are notorious for displacing

  • Badger cub in evening light Badger

    Badgers are nocturnal...

  • Garden spider with insect prey Garden spider

    The European garden spider with its poignant life cycle and familiar orb web is the most...

  • Close-up of the face of a hedgehog while curled up in a ball Hedgehog

    Hedgehogs are the only British mammal with spines.

  • Close up of a honeybee European honey bee

    European honey bees have been introduced to nearly all parts of the world by humans, but...

  • Close up of a European hornet Hornet

    Hornets are less aggressive than many more frequently encountered wasp species.

  • European mole surfacing from a mole hill Mole

    Moles are industrious diggers and can create 20m of tunnel per day.

  • Young European rabbit Rabbit

    Rabbits came originally from south west Europe and north west Africa.

  • Fallow deer stag with antlers during the rutting season Fallow deer

    Fallow deer are a widespread species of deer in

  • Head of a coiled female grass snake Grass snake

    Reaching nearly two metres, grass snakes are the UK's largest

  • Harlequin ladybird on a nettle Harlequin ladybird

    Harlequin ladybirds were introduced to north America and mainland Europe as a biological...

  • Common snail adult on moss covered stone at night Garden snail

    With their messy trails and taste for greens, garden snails are often considered to be...

  • Peacock butterfly approaching pink flower Peacock butterfly

    Peacock butterflies are certainly one of the most eye-catching creatures in the UK.

  • Negro ant tending aphids Insects

    The insects are one of the most successful types of living organism, with roughly half...

  • Cabbage white butterfly in flight Cabbage white

    Cabbage whites are common butterflies of gardens and other flowery places, where they...

  • A mass of monarch butterflies flying Butterflies and moths

    Elegant and beautiful, butterflies and moths never fail to impress.

  • Lesser Horseshoe Bat roosting on a branch Lesser horseshoe bat

    Lesser horseshoe bats are named for their fleshy nose-leaf structures.

  • Earthworms Earthworms

    Earthworms are the world's unsung heros.

  • Hummingbird hawkmoth feeding on flower nectar Hummingbird hawk-moth

    Hummingbird hawk-moths beat their wings beat at such speed they emit an audible hum.

  • Two lacewings feeding on moss Net-winged insects

    Net-winged insects are the lacewings and their relatives, the antlions, alderflies and...

  • A red fox on the prowl Red fox

    Red foxes have overtaken grey wolves as the most widespread canines in the wild.

  • Profile of a red squirrel Red squirrel

    Instantly recognisable by their red fur, ear tufts and long, fluffy tails, red squirrels...

  • Male muntjac deer in British woodland Muntjac deer

    Muntjac deer don't have a fixed breeding season, unlike many other deer.

  • A male roe deer fawn looks alert Roe deer

    Roe deer are one of Britain's native deer species and have become the most widespread.

  • Two female paper wasps in a wasps' nest Wasps

    Wasps of the vespidae family contain all the social wasps and many of the solitary...

Plants in this collection

  • Close-up of frozen nettle leaves Stinging nettle

    Stinging nettles are easily recognised and, unfortunately, often easily felt as the...

Habitats in this collection

  • A lake in the mountains Lakes and ponds

    From the smallest pond (1m square) to the largest lake, this biome provides many...

  • World map of urban areas. The brightest areas are the most urbanized, but not necessarily the most populated. Urban

    Urban habitats are areas dominated by human activities and human constructions.

Adaptations in this collection

  • A male leafy sea dragon with eggs Paternal care

    Paternal care is where the father of the offspring provides most or all of the effort...

  • Arctic tern in flight Adapted to flying

    Flying, in its true sense, is the ability to move through the air under your own power...

  • Close-up of star-nosed mole out of its burrow Tactile sense

    Tactile sense includes the obvious sense of contact with another object, but also...

  • Tadpole sitting on a leaf Metamorphosis

    Metamorphosis is when a species changes body shape and structure at a particular point...

  • Eyespots of the silkmoth caterpillar facing camera Mimicry

    Mimicry is when an animal or plant resembles another creature or inanimate object,...

  • Red-eared turtle hatching out of its egg Egg layer

    Oviparous animals lay eggs, inside which the young then develop before hatching occurs.

  • Adult timber rattlesnake coiled around its young Ovoviviparous

    Ovoviviparous animals produce eggs inside their body, but then give birth to live young.

  • Two white-lipped snails on moss, one with a plain shell and the other with a striped shell Polymorphism

    Polymorphism means 'many forms' and can be exhibited in a variety of ways.

  • Two frogs mating surrounded by eggs Spawning

    Spawning animals deposit a mass of eggs and sperm in water, where they meet and are...

  • Banded mongoose foraging for parasites on skin of a warthog Symbiotic

    Symbiosis is a relationship between two organisms that's beneficial to one (commensal)...

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