This weekend is the Big Garden Birdwatch, which is taking place across the country for its 35th year! Spend an hour getting outside and watching the birds that visit your garden to help us better understand the birds that live in and visit Britain.
Here at Mudchute, we are lucky to be home to numerous bird species, with many nesting in the park and farm and many others stopping by to refuel on their migrations between Scandinavia in the North and the Mediterranean and even sub-saharan Africa in the South. We are also home to both native species and controversial introduced species that have become resident, such as Ring-necked and Monk Parakeets. You can see a few of the more common species we see at Mudchute in the gallery below and in these pages from Shirley Wheeler’s “The Wildlife of Mudchute”.
So as you enjoy your weekend, keep an eye out and an ear out for birds this weekend and remember to register and report your sightings at https://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch. The website includes a guide to what to look out for and get ideas for family friendly activities. Spot a bird you don’t recognise? The RSPB also have a handy Bird Identifier that can help too!
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- Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are often heard singing loudly from the treetops and can be found in large flocks called murmurations.
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- The long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus) has a distinctive long tail and small round body.
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- The Jay (Garrulus glandarius) is a colorful relative of the Magpie and Crow family. Photo by David Darrell-Lambert.
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- The striking yellow belly of a blue tit (Parus caeruleus)
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- Crab apples, rose hips and seeds are among the few food natural sources of food during winter.
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- The robin (Erithacus rubecula) has a distinctive orange breast and can often be heard singing. These birds aggressively defend their territories around the farm.
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- A Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus), one of two introduced parakeet species found on the farm.
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- The Mistle Thursh (Turdus viscivorus) has a speckled chest and makes a rattling call in flight. Photo by David Darrell-Lambert.
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- Rink-necked parakeets (Psittacula krameri) have naturalised across the UK.
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- Blue tits (Parus caeruleus) feeding in the canopy.
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- A male blackbird (Turdus merula).
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- A great tit (Parus major) with their characteristic glossy black head and white cheeks.
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- A pair of wood pigeons (Columba palumbus). These birds often make a loud clattering noise when taking off, which gave them one of their folk names, “clatter doves”.
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- Magpies (Pica pica) are in the same family as crows, ravens and jays.
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- Carrion crows (Corvus corone) are highly intelligent birds.
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