Ruffle some feathers and get to know frequent visitors to the bird table
If you live in the UK, the chances are you will have seen many if not all, of these birds, but how much do you really know about them?
By Annette J Beveridge
There are many challenges facing birds in the UK. Their lives are shaped by their need to survive and to compete with other birds but many birds die in their first year.
Sometimes, just one out of four birds facing their first winter survive to spring.
Birds have high energy requirements, which is why you will see many birds visiting garden feeding stations. By putting out a regular supply (and variety) of food, you will help birds through the extreme winter challenges.
The warmer weather in spring enables birds to think less about survival but more about reproduction. However, the challenges are not over.
Many birds need to feed on insects and climate change is impacting the number of insects available as well as altering temperatures.
Food resources generally increase in the spring months. A time of abundance, this can be a wonderful opportunity to monitor bird behaviour, to see them pairing up and establishing territories.
Spring is a hive of activity. Birdsong can be clearly defined as males defend territories and try to attract females.
There is of course, the constant threat of predation.
Once eggs are incubated and hatch, time in the nest tends to be short as birds grow quickly leaving the nest within just a few weeks. This is because the chicks are vulnerable to predators while in the nest.
The speed of growth causes its own problems. Juveniles have flimsy skeletons. The priority is to leave the nest so the skeleton is not fully developed.
If the bird survives the next few months, more bone deposits are laid down until their skeletons strengthen.
Wren
One of the U.K.'s most enigmatic birds, the Wren which despite its tiny size, delivers a song with a real punch. It can be easier to listen to a Wren than to see it as they spend much time in the undergrowth but the birds will visit areas where cover is good.
The scientific name for this bird is a troglodyte. It translates as caved dweller, but far from dwelling in caves, these birds seek out and use small holes. They will utilise a wide range of habitats, including gardens.
They will use nest boxes, and often use old nests of other birds.
The male builds a number of nests - all dome shaped and made out of dry leaves, grass or moss or indeed any other plant material.
The female selects the nest, and lines it with feathers.
Males can be polygynous and will mate with more than one female which makes sense as the male often produces six to twelve nests.
The original female is likely to get the most help when raising the brood.
Wrens are vulnerable to cold weather and will often gather in communal roosts during the cold nights, which may seem odd considering they are mainly solitary.
Roosts can include the eaves of houses, but also, Wrens can congregate in nest boxes and may pile in on top of one another. The cold weather can be highly damaging to populations, and fluctuations in numbers often occur.
Wrens weigh no more than a one pound coin.
They are easily distinguished from other birds with a brownish buff plumage and brown upper feathers and a small tail often held vertically.
If you look closely at a Wren, you will see there is a pale line just above the eye, the bill is also quite long, considering the size of the bird. They also emit a clicking sound and a song that can be quite fast with a high-pitched trilling phrase to it.
Wrens start to breed in April and continue through to August with several broods raised per year. Typically, there are five or six eggs laid with an incubation period of between 13 and 18 days. The chicks will often fledge between 14 and 19 days after hatching.
The typical lifespan is about two years, but they may live up to seven years
Long-Tailed Tits
Long-Tailed Tits can be found throughout Britain and Ireland, but may be absent from some of the Scottish islands as well as upland areas.
They are not true tits, but actually a member of the group that includes warblers and swallows.
Hugely popular birds, they have very small round bodies, with long tails, the equivalent of more than half of their length. They are easily distinguished with the whitish head and a black band running alongside the forehead, along the crown. In fact, they often appear to have eyebrows.
The throat and breast area is pale/white, but the birds have a pinkish belly with black upper parts and black and pink along the shoulders.
A pink sheen or a splash of orange, may be detected above the eyes.
These birds mainly eat arthropods and in particular, small bugs and insect eggs and will also eat the larvae of moths.
They breed from March to June and the clutch size is typically six to nine eggs.
Once the eggs are laid, the incubation period is between 14 and 16 days and the young fledge between 14 and 17 days. There is just one brood per year, and the average lifespan is two years, but they have been known to live for almost 9 years.
In the spring months, these birds are often only seen in pairs, but do sometimes receive help from close relatives when it comes to raising the young. This often occurs when their own breeding attempts have failed. The extra help can increase the chances of the young fledging successfully.
Once fledged, the Long-Tailed Tits all come together and have extended family parties which is advantageous in the winter because they are susceptible to the cold weather. They have often been detected huddling together for warmth but will use nest boxes too.
Their preferred area is deciduous woodland with dense undergrowth, but they will also nest in suburban parks and gardens.
The nest is attached to the outer edge of a bush, especially, bushes with thorns, but nests can be located in climbing plants, and in trees where the nest is placed up against the trunk or within the fork of the tree.
Both the male and the female build nests - a dense ball of moss covered with grey lichen. It is bound together with hair and cobwebs inside. There are hundreds of feathers and it can take up to three weeks before the nest is built.
At times, the pair may leave the nest once finished for a few days to be certain that predators have not been watching.
The best time to see Long-Tailed Tits is when food is scarce as they will often come to bird tables to take small seeds, feed on mild grated cheese and fat products. They will also use hanging feeders.
Great Tits
These beautifully distinctive coloured birds are larger than Blue Tits or Coal Tits with a bright yellow belly and blue and green upper parts.
Adult males and females can be identified by the width of the black stripe running down the centre of the chest.
If you see one where the black stripe tapers off towards the belly, it will be a female and in males, the black patch widens between the legs.
The width of the black chest stripe is actually a status symbol and those males with the most noticeable stripe is likely to be most dominant and have greater opportunity with females.
Great Tits take to nest boxes providing the entrance is the right size and fill the cavity with moss and hair. A cup shape acts as a cradle for the eggs.
A single large brood is produced each year, and timed to coincide with the burst of young leaves in broadleaf woodland and the peak in caterpillar numbers. 10,000 caterpillars are needed to raise a single brood which mean the parent birds work 18 hour days for a two to three week period. In gardens, brood sizes tend to be smaller.
Great Tits will take vertebrates and in particular, caterpillars and spiders but will dine happily on seeds and fruit in winter. They breed from April to June and lay six to nine eggs, typically with an incubation period of around 14 days.
The young fledge about 19 days after this. There tends to be just one brood, but sometimes, two and lifespan is around three years. Great Tits have been known to survive for almost 14 years.
Blue Tits
Blue Tits are generally sedentary, which means they do not move far from the area in which they were born.
In the winter months, they can join mixed flocks which includes wintering Chiffchaff and even, Goldcrest.
These are widespread birds, but are typically absent from the high ground in Scotland, as well as some of the Scottish islands.
The highest density of Blue Tits can be found in central and Southeast England preferring deciduous woodland.
Blue Tit populations fluctuate. This can be due to a lack of caterpillar availability during the breeding season or due to a really cold weather.
Blue Tits are more visible in the winter with many visiting feeders. It may seem as if five or six are attending but it can be up to 60 birds using the feeders during any one day.
Blue Tits will nest in a variety of places …such as postboxes, but will make use of specific nest boxes and these are lined with a base of moss. They make a cup shape from hair and very fine grasses.
They typically have one brood per year and will lay eight to ten eggs, but the abundance of caterpillar is all important for Blue Tits and so at times, broods in nest boxes are not as successful as those with more access to caterpillars in woodland areas.
Feeding stations in gardens can be a lifeline however and nest boxes can also be used for roosting over the winter.
Blue Tits eat insects and spiders, as well as fruit and seeds during the winter months. They breed from April to June with a clutch size of eight to 10 eggs.
The eggs are incubated for 12 to 16 days and the young will fledge from 16 to 22 days thereafter.
Blue tits live three years on average , but the maximum lifespan recorded is 10 years.
Coal Tits
Coal Tits are small birds that often visit feeders, but are often elusive, taking a seed and flying away quickly. Coal Tits have a buff coloured underpart and the back feathers are a bluish grey.
Although Coal Tits can be confused with other birds, such as the Willow or Marsh Tit, it does have a characteristic head pattern, white cheeks, a black bib, and the black cap that runs down the base of the neck on either side of the head.
It is more easily identified by its white patch, which runs from the top of the head down the neck.
They mainly breed in conifer woodland, but will make use of mixed forest. Coal Tits will use nest boxes, but often nest in cavities found near to the ground, including old burrows belonging to voles or mice.
They rarely nest in a garden, but are found in parks, as well as in cemeteries, especially where ornamental conifer trees are found.
Coal Tits also cache food and it is possible to watch them do this. Great Tits will often watch them too so to locate their stores of food. When caching, the birds fly back-and-forth to the feeder in a short period of time. This frantic to and fro is because they can only carry one seed at a time. Food is taken to separate locations. This is known as scatter hoarding.
They are sedentary birds, and mostly faithful to certain sites, including localised pockets in England, but may have to move when there are food shortages. Coal Tits feed on insects and spiders with seeds also taken in winter.
They breed from April to June with a clutch size of eight to 10 eggs. They may have two broods each year with an incubation period of 14 to 16 days.
The young tend to fledge between 18 and 20 days.
Although, the typical lifespan of a Coal Tit is two years, they have been recorded living over nine years.
Robins
Robins breed in gardens, parks, and at the edges of deciduous woodland, often selecting odd, nesting sites. They choose holes or recesses behind thick vegetation but will use open-fronted nest boxes providing there is a lot of cover.
The nest is built by the female and is made from dead leaves, grass, moss and is lined with plant fibres and hair. They defend their territories fiercely throughout the year, and the red breast will be significant when it comes to deterring rivals.
Aggressive encounters can occur in gardens too with much posturing but robins can fight to the death.
Males and females look the same, but juveniles do not have the distinctive red breast for the first few months.
In fact, the juvenile’s plumage is brown and spotted, however, the posture and look is still very Robin-like.
Diet consists of invertebrates including insects, but they will also take snails and worms in the winter, and eat berries and seeds. Robins enjoy feeding on fat products and mealworms either on the ground or on bird tables and are often seen using hanging feeders now.
These birds are found mostly everywhere in Britain and Ireland. However, they are absent from some of the Scottish islands and any exposed uplands.
Once a male has established its territory, it is generally considered non-migratory for life, but females may cross to mainland Europe, or even fly to North Africa for overwintering.
Migrant robins from Russia, continental Europe or Scandinavia do pass through Britain and Ireland.
Robins breed from March to July with typically two broods per year. They lay four to five eggs with an incubation period of 13 to 14 days.
The young fledge within 13 to 14 days.
The typical lifespan of a Robin is two years. However, they have been reported living eight years or more.
House Sparrows
Once common, House Sparrows used to be seen everywhere and the big decline in population was a surprise to conservationists.
With a distinctive ‘chirping’ sound, they are often heard before being seen…chirping from hedges or roofs. Males can be distinguished by the black bib. There is a a black face mask and a chestnut brown head. The crown is grey.
Males also have a broad white wing bar.
Females and juveniles are a dusky brown and have greyish white undersides with a dull but streaked back. There is no black bib and they have a pale brown crown with a buff line located just above the eye.
It is often easy to confuse them with Dunnocks but these birds have a thinner beak and a grey head and breast.
Predominantly, House Sparrows eat seeds, or berries and will dine on kitchen scraps, but the chicks are fed insects, seeds and green plant material. They can be attracted into gardens by peanuts, sunflower, seeds, or mixes.
House Sparrows nest in colonies, although will have their own very small territories.
A mix of influences could be behind the declines of these once abundant birds, which includes the loss of feeding grounds as land is often used for development instead and a lack of insect food for chicks has been shown to be a real problem.
Other issues includes the replacement of wooden fascia with plastic alternatives which is where House Sparrows would have nested.
They breed from April through to August with two to three broods per year. The clutch size will be four to five eggs with an incubation period of around 12 days.
The young will fledge within a 14 to 15 day period afterwards.
The typical lifespan of a sparrow will be three years, but they have been recorded living up to 12 years
Magpies
One of the most recognisable garden birds is the Magpie. These birds have striking black-and-white plumage and a long tail. The feathers are actually iridescent with green, purple and blue hues.
The juveniles have a duller plumage and a shorter tail.
Magpies prefer to be in the countryside and around farmland or woodland edges, but visit parks and gardens. The nest is built in the tops of trees and made of two parts. Externally, the frame is of twigs forming a loose canopy and the nest is made from mud, twigs and grass.
Magpies build their nest early…starting in February but usually, do not lay their eggs until April.
Magpies feed on invertebrates, fruit, seed, and scraps but they will feed on carrion and small mammals.
During the breeding season, Magpies will take the eggs and young of other species. Any food not needed is stored.
They breed from March to June with a clutch size of four to six eggs.
Incubation is 21 to 22 days and then the young will fledge between 22 and 28 days later.
Magpies typically have just one brood per year.
The typical lifespan of a magpie is five years, but they have been recorded living to almost 22 years.
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