Wildlife of Britain & Beyond

Stercorarius parasiticus

The Arctic skua is a piratical seabird that chases terns and gulls to steal their food, breeding on northern Scottish moorland.

Sterna paradisaea

The Arctic tern makes the longest migration of any animal, travelling up to 90,000 km from its UK breeding grounds to Antarctica each year.

Fratercula arctica

The Atlantic puffin is a seabird with a brightly coloured bill, spending most of its life on the open ocean.

Recurvirostra avosetta

The pied avocet, the RSPB's emblem, returned to breed in Britain in 1947 and now has a strong population in coastal wetlands.

Branta leucopsis

The barnacle goose winters in the UK in large flocks on western coasts, breeding on Arctic islands.

Tyto alba

The barn owl is one of the most widely distributed birds in the world, recognisable by its heart-shaped white face and silent flight.

Limosa lapponica

The bar-tailed godwit makes the longest non-stop migration of any bird, flying up to 13,000 km from Alaska. Large numbers winter on UK coasts.

Anser fabalis

The bean goose is a scarce winter visitor from Scandinavia to a handful of traditional sites in England and Scotland.

Panurus biarmicus

The bearded tit (or bearded reedling) is a reedbed specialist with a ping call; it irrupts to new sites in autumn to form new colonies.

Merops apiaster

The European bee-eater is an increasingly regular summer visitor to Britain, occasionally attempting to breed in sandpits in southern England.

Cygnus columbianus

The smallest swan to visit Britain, Bewick's swans migrate from Siberia to winter at traditional UK wetland sites.

Botaurus stellaris

The Eurasian bittern is a secretive reedbed dweller, far more often heard than seen; its deep booming call carries up to five kilometres.

Turdus merula

The common blackbird is one of the most familiar birds in Britain, the male's mellow fluting song a quintessential sound of spring mornings.

Sylvia atricapilla

The Eurasian blackcap is often called the 'northern nightingale' for its rich and varied song; many now overwinter in British gardens.

Lyrurus tetrix

The black grouse is a striking moorland bird; males gather at traditional display grounds called leks to compete for females in spring.

Cepphus grylle

The black guillemot is a small auk of rocky shores in northern Scotland and Ireland, entirely black with white wing patches in summer.

Chroicocephalus ridibundus

The black-headed gull is the UK's most familiar small gull, with a chocolate-brown (not black) hood in summer and found far inland.

Podiceps nigricollis

A rare breeder and winter visitor to UK waters, the black-necked grebe has upturned bill and golden fan-shaped ear tufts in summer.

Phoenicurus ochruros

The black redstart is a very rare breeder in urban Britain and a scarce passage migrant, the male sooty grey with a red tail.

Limosa limosa

The black-tailed godwit is a large wading bird; the Icelandic race winters on UK estuaries while the continental race breeds in small numbers.

Chlidonias niger

The black tern is a regular spring and autumn passage migrant over UK inland waters, dipping low to pluck insects from the surface.

Gavia arctica

A scarce breeder in Scotland and winter visitor to UK coasts, with elegantly patterned plumage in summer.

Cyanistes caeruleus

The Eurasian blue tit is one of the most familiar garden birds in Britain, acrobatic at feeders and nesting in boxes.

Chroicocephalus philadelphia

Bonaparte’s Gulls are sleek, small gulls that breed in the boreal forest and winter farther south on ocean coasts, lakes, and rivers. Adults have black heads and red legs in the summer; in winter they have a neat gray smudge near the ear. They fly with ternlike agility, flashing bright white primaries that form a distinctive white wedge in the upperwing. Bonaparte’s Gulls capture flying insects and pluck tiny fish from the water with equal ease. They are unusual among gulls in their use of trees for nesting.

Fringilla montifringilla

The brambling is a winter visitor from Scandinavia, often joining chaffinch flocks in beech woodland, the male with a striking orange shoulder.

Branta bernicla

The brent goose is a small, dark goose that winters in large flocks on UK estuaries, feeding on eelgrass and saltmarsh plants.

Pyrrhula pyrrhula

The Eurasian bullfinch is one of Britain's most striking birds, the male with an intense rose-red breast; it has declined in farmland areas.

Buteo buteo

The common buzzard is now Britain's most numerous raptor, often seen soaring overhead or perched on roadside posts.

Branta canadensis

The Canada goose is now the UK's most numerous goose, introduced from North America and resident across parks, lakes and rivers.

Tetrao urogallus

The capercaillie, Britain's largest grouse, inhabits ancient Caledonian pinewoods in Scotland and has a dramatic lekking display.

Corvus corone

The carrion crow is one of Britain's most widespread birds, highly intelligent and adaptable, usually seen alone or in pairs.

Cettia cetti

Cetti's warbler colonised Britain in the 1970s and is a resident in reedbeds, exploding into a surprisingly loud burst of song before disappearing.

Fringilla coelebs

The chaffinch is one of Britain's most abundant birds; the male's bright plumage and rattling song are familiar in almost every wood and garden.

Phylloscopus collybita

The common chiffchaff is one of the first summer migrants to arrive in Britain, its onomatopoeic chiff-chaff song a welcome sign of spring.

Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax

The red-billed chough is a cliff-nesting crow of western coasts in Wales, Scotland and Ireland, with acrobatic flight and a ringing call.

Emberiza cirlus

The cirl bunting is restricted to the south Devon coast in the UK, where targeted conservation has helped it recover from near-extinction.

Periparus ater

The coal tit is the smallest UK tit, preferring conifer trees; it habitually caches food seeds for retrieval in winter.

Streptopelia decaocto

The Eurasian collared dove colonised Britain from the 1950s in one of the fastest natural range expansions ever recorded, now a familiar garden bird.

Grus grus

The common crane became extinct in Britain in the 16th century but naturally recolonised Norfolk in the 1980s and is now slowly spreading.

Uria aalge

The common guillemot breeds in huge, noisy colonies on UK cliff ledges, incubating a single pear-shaped egg on a bare rock.

Larus canus

Despite its name, the common gull is less numerous than herring or black-headed gulls; it breeds in Scotland and winters across the UK.

Acanthis flammea

The common or mealy redpoll is a winter visitor from Scandinavia, slightly larger and paler than the resident lesser redpoll.

Actitis hypoleucos

The common sandpiper bobs incessantly on riverside rocks and boulders, breeding along UK upland rivers and wintering in small numbers.

Melanitta nigra

The common scoter is a seaduck that winters in large flocks off UK coasts and breeds on a few Scottish and Irish moorland lochs.

Sterna hirundo

The common tern is the most widespread tern in Britain, breeding on coasts and inland waters, with a forked tail and fierce dive.

Fulica atra

The Eurasian coot is an aggressive, sooty-black waterbird with a distinctive white bill and frontal shield, common on lakes and reservoirs.

Phalacrocorax carbo

The great cormorant is a large, dark waterbird commonly seen drying its wings on posts and rocks at inland and coastal waters.

Emberiza calandra

The corn bunting is a large, streaky farmland bunting, singing its jangling song from a fence post or telegraph wire on arable land.

Crex crex

The corncrake is a rare and secretive summer visitor to traditional hay meadows in Scotland and Ireland, with a rasping crex-crex call.

Lophophanes cristatus

The crested tit is restricted to the ancient Caledonian pinewoods of the Scottish Highlands in the UK, easily identified by its pointed crest.

Loxia curvirostra

The common crossbill has uniquely crossed bill tips for extracting seeds from conifer cones; flocks irrupt into Britain when cone crops fail in Europe.

Cuculus canorus

The common cuckoo's call is one of the most celebrated sounds of spring, yet this migratory brood parasite is declining rapidly in the UK.

Numenius arquata

The Eurasian curlew is the UK's largest wading bird, known for its haunting call and distinctive down-curved bill.

Curruca undata

The Dartford warbler is a resident heathland specialist, one of the few warblers to overwinter in Britain, vulnerable to cold winters.

Cinclus cinclus

The white-throated dipper is the UK's only truly aquatic songbird, swimming and walking along the beds of fast upland streams.

Charadrius morinellus

The dotterel breeds on Scottish mountaintops and is a rare passage visitor; unusually, females are brighter and compete for males.

Calidris alpina

The dunlin is the most abundant wader on UK estuaries in winter, forming dense, aerobatic flocks that wheel and turn in unison.

Prunella modularis

The dunnock or hedge sparrow is a familiar but often overlooked garden bird with a remarkably complex mating system.

Alopochen aegyptiaca

Originally from Africa and introduced to Britain, the Egyptian goose is now an established feral breeder across England.

Somateria mollissima

The common eider is the UK's largest sea duck and heaviest duck, a coastal bird of northern Britain famed for its soft down feathers.

Columba livia

The rock dove, ancestor of all feral pigeons, exists in pure form only on remote Scottish cliffs; feral populations are ubiquitous in cities.

Turdus pilaris

The fieldfare is a large, handsome winter visitor from Scandinavia and Russia, arriving in October in large flocks to strip berries.

Regulus ignicapilla

The firecrest is slightly larger than the goldcrest with a bold face pattern; it is a scarce breeder and common passage migrant to Britain.

Fulmarus glacialis

The fulmar is a stocky seabird of cliff-ledge colonies around the entire UK coast, gliding effortlessly on stiff wings.

Mareca strepera

The gadwall is a subtly beautiful dabbling duck, now an increasing breeder and winter visitor across UK lowland wetlands.

Morus bassanus

The northern gannet is the UK's largest seabird, plunging from 30 metres to catch fish and nesting in spectacular cliff-top colonies.

Sylvia borin

The garden warbler is a summer visitor with a sustained, mellow song similar to the blackcap's, but with no distinguishing plumage features.

Spatula querquedula

The garganey is Britain's only duck that is a summer visitor, arriving from Africa in spring to breed at a handful of wetland sites.

Larus hyperboreus

The glaucous gull is a large, pale winter visitor from the Arctic to UK harbours and fishing ports, larger than the Iceland gull.

Regulus regulus

The goldcrest is Britain's smallest bird, a tiny jewel of conifer woodland with a needle-thin call at the edge of human hearing.

Aquila chrysaetos

The golden eagle is Scotland's most iconic bird of prey, soaring over mountain ranges on wings spanning up to 2.2 metres.

Bucephala clangula

The common goldeneye is a compact diving duck, a winter visitor to UK reservoirs and coasts that breeds in a small Scottish population.

Pluvialis apricaria

The European golden plover breeds on upland moors and moves to lowland fields in winter; flocks in flight are a spectacular sight.

Carduelis carduelis

The European goldfinch is a delightful finch of weedy fields and gardens; flocks (called charms) feed on teasel and thistle heads.

Mergus merganser

The goosander is Britain's largest sawbill duck, a fish-eater with serrated bill that breeds on upland rivers and winters at reservoirs.

Accipiter gentilis

The northern goshawk is a large, powerful forest hawk that was persecuted to extinction in Britain and has naturally recolonised.

Locustella naevia

The common grasshopper warbler produces a remarkable continuous reeling song like a fishing reel, projected from dense low vegetation.

Larus marinus

The great black-backed gull is the world's largest gull, a powerful predator of other seabirds and mammals on UK coasts.

Podiceps cristatus

The great crested grebe is famous for its elaborate courtship display in which pairs mirror each other's movements and present waterweed.

Lanius excubitor

The great grey shrike is a scarce winter visitor from Scandinavia, perching prominently on exposed branches to watch for prey.

Gavia immer

The great northern diver is a winter visitor from Iceland and Greenland, seen around UK coasts and on large inland waters.

Catharacta skua

The great skua or 'bonxie' is a powerful, aggressive seabird breeding in Shetland and Orkney, able to subdue seabirds as large as gannets.

Dendrocopos major

The great spotted woodpecker is the most familiar woodpecker in Britain, drumming loudly on trees and increasingly visiting garden feeders.

Parus major

The great tit is the largest UK tit, a bold visitor to garden feeders with a repertoire of over 40 different calls.

Ardea alba

A recent and rapidly expanding breeder in the UK, the great white egret is now regularly seen at wetlands across England.

Chloris chloris

The European greenfinch is a chunky finch of gardens and woodland edges, declining due to trichomonosis disease.

Tringa ochropus

The green sandpiper is a solitary wader of ditches and stream margins, often seen in small numbers at UK wetlands year-round.

Tringa nebularia

The common greenshank breeds on Scottish moorland and is a regular passage migrant and winter visitor at UK wetlands.

Picus viridis

The green woodpecker is the largest UK woodpecker, more often heard — its laughing yaffle call — than seen as it feeds on ants on lawns.

Ardea cinerea

The grey heron is the UK's tallest bird, a patient hunter of fish and frogs standing motionless beside water.

Anser anser

The greylag goose is the ancestor of most domestic geese and has a feral/resident population across the UK alongside migratory birds from Iceland.

Perdix perdix

The grey partridge has declined dramatically in Britain due to agricultural intensification and is now a conservation priority.

Pluvialis squatarola

The grey plover is a wader of UK estuaries in winter, standing more upright and alone than golden plovers.

Motacilla cinerea

Despite its name, the grey wagtail has bright yellow underparts; it is always found near fast-flowing water in upland and lowland Britain.

Coccothraustes coccothraustes

The hawfinch is Britain's largest finch, with a massive bill capable of cracking olive and cherry stones; it is secretive and declining.

Circus cyaneus

The hen harrier is a ground-nesting moorland raptor, the grey male and brown female ringtail strikingly different in plumage.

Larus argentatus

The European herring gull is the quintessential seaside bird, declining in the UK but still familiar with its mewing call and pink legs.

Falco subbuteo

The Eurasian hobby is an elegant summer visitor to Britain, catching dragonflies and small birds on the wing with great agility.

Corvus cornix

The hooded crow replaces the carrion crow in Scotland and Ireland; the two hybridise where their ranges meet.

Upupa epops

The hoopoe is a stunning exotic-looking bird that appears as a scarce spring visitor to Britain, occasionally breeding in southern counties.

Delichon urbicum

The common house martin is a summer visitor that builds its distinctive mud cup nest under the eaves of houses across Britain.

Passer domesticus

The house sparrow has declined dramatically in UK towns and cities since the 1970s, yet remains one of the most familiar garden birds.

Larus glaucoides

The Iceland gull is a pale winter visitor from Greenland and Iceland, often found at harbours and fishing ports in northern Britain.

Coloeus monedula

The western jackdaw is the smallest member of the crow family in Britain, nesting in chimneys and church towers.

Garrulus glandarius

The Eurasian jay is the most colourful member of the crow family in Britain, hiding thousands of acorns each autumn for winter food.

Falco tinnunculus

The common kestrel is the most familiar falcon in Britain, hovering over motorway verges and rough grassland hunting for small mammals.

Alcedo atthis

The common kingfisher is one of the most colourful of all British birds, often seen as a flash of blue along rivers.

Rissa tridactyla

The black-legged kittiwake is a true oceanic gull that only comes to cliff ledge colonies to breed, with a distinctive kitti-waak call.

Calidris canutus

The red knot gathers in vast, spectacular flocks on UK estuaries in winter, sometimes numbering hundreds of thousands of birds.

Calcarius lapponicus

The Lapland bunting is a scarce autumn and winter visitor to UK coastal fields and beaches from its Arctic breeding grounds.

Vanellus vanellus

The northern lapwing is a distinctive wading bird with iridescent green-black plumage and a wispy crest.

Oceanodroma leucorhoa

Leach's petrel breeds in large colonies on remote Scottish islands, coming ashore only at night to avoid predation.

Larus fuscus

The lesser black-backed gull breeds in large colonies on UK moorland and coasts, with many wintering in Africa.

Acanthis cabaret

The lesser redpoll is a small finch of birch and alder woodland, with a red forehead and often seen hanging acrobatically from catkins.

Dryobates minor

The lesser spotted woodpecker is Britain's smallest woodpecker, sparrow-sized and secretive, and has declined dramatically in recent decades.

Curruca curruca

The lesser whitethroat is a summer visitor to tall hedgerows and scrub, with a distinctive rattling song.

Linaria cannabina

The common linnet breeds on heathland, farmland and coastal scrub, with the male's rosy red breast and forehead in summer.

Alle alle

The little auk is the world's most numerous seabird, wintering in large numbers offshore in the North Sea; storm-driven birds occasionally appear inland.

Egretta garzetta

The little egret colonised Britain in the 1990s and is now a common sight at estuaries and wetlands, dazzlingly white with black and yellow feet.

Tachybaptus ruficollis

Britain's smallest grebe, the little grebe or dabchick is a compact diving bird of ponds, lakes and slow rivers, known for its trilling call.

Hydrocoloeus minutus

The little gull is the world's smallest gull, a passage migrant and winter visitor off UK coasts, with smoky-black underwings.

Athene noctua

The little owl was introduced to Britain from mainland Europe in the 19th century and is now widespread, often seen perching in daytime.

Charadrius dubius

The little ringed plover is a summer visitor to UK gravel pits and riverbanks, smaller than its cousin with a yellow eye-ring.

Calidris minuta

The little stint is a tiny wader that passes through the UK in autumn, often at coastal mudflats and inland reservoirs.

Sternula albifrons

The little tern is Britain's smallest tern and one of its rarest coastal breeding birds, nesting on shingle beaches exposed to disturbance.

Asio otus

The long-eared owl is a secretive owl of woodland and conifer plantations, roosting communally in winter.

Clangula hyemalis

The long-tailed duck is an attractive seaduck that winters off northern UK coasts, the male with his long pointed tail feathers.

Stercorarius longicaudus

The long-tailed skua is a scarce offshore passage migrant with elegant elongated tail streamers, the smallest and most buoyant of the skuas.

Aegithalos caudatus

The long-tailed tit is a charming, fluffy woodland bird that roosts in tight communal huddles in winter for warmth.

Pica pica

The Eurasian magpie is one of the most intelligent birds, recognising itself in mirrors; its clattering call is a familiar countryside sound.

Anas platyrhynchos

The mallard is the most familiar and widespread duck in Britain, ancestor of almost all domestic ducks.

Aix galericulata

The strikingly ornate mandarin duck, introduced from East Asia, has established a thriving feral population in British woodland streams.

Puffinus puffinus

The Manx shearwater nests in huge colonies on offshore islands and makes one of the longest migrations of any bird.

Circus aeruginosus

The marsh harrier is Britain's largest harrier, quartering reedbeds with wings raised in a distinctive V-shape.

Poecile palustris

The marsh tit is a woodland bird of southern Britain, despite its name more common in deciduous woods than true marsh. It is declining rapidly.

Acrocephalus palustris

The marsh warbler is a rare summer visitor to damp vegetation in southern England, famed for its extraordinary mimicry of other birds.

Anthus pratensis

The meadow pipit is one of the most abundant birds on British upland moors and grasslands, and the cuckoo's most frequent host.

Ichthyaetus melanocephalus

The Mediterranean gull has colonised Britain as a breeder since the 1960s; it has a jet-black hood and pure white wing-tips in summer.

Falco columbarius

Britain's smallest falcon, the merlin breeds on upland moorland and winters on coastal marshes, hunting small birds in low, fast flight.

Turdus viscivorus

The mistle thrush is the largest UK thrush, singing boldly from treetops in stormy weather, earning the name 'stormcock'.

Circus pygargus

Montagu's harrier is Britain's rarest regular breeding raptor, a summer visitor to arable fields in southern England.

Gallinula chloropus

The common moorhen is one of the most familiar waterbirds in Britain, bobbing along the edges of any pond or river with its red and yellow bill.

Cygnus olor

The mute swan is one of the largest British birds and is the most familiar swan, a resident breeder on lakes, rivers and coasts.

Nycticorax nycticorax

A rare visitor to the UK, the black-crowned night heron roosts by day in waterside trees and hunts at dusk.

Luscinia megarhynchos

The nightingale is famous for its powerful song, heard both day and night. A summer visitor to the UK.

Caprimulgus europaeus

The European nightjar is a nocturnal summer visitor to UK heathlands, its mechanical churring song carrying far on summer evenings.

Sitta europaea

The Eurasian nuthatch is the only British bird that regularly climbs head-first down tree trunks, with a loud, ringing call.

Emberiza hortulana

The ortolan bunting is a scarce autumn vagrant to UK coastal headlands, declining across its European range.

Pandion haliaetus

The osprey is a large raptor that feeds almost exclusively on fish, diving feet-first into water to catch them.

Haematopus ostralegus

The Eurasian oystercatcher is a noisy, pied wader of rocky shores and estuaries, its loud piping calls a familiar coastal sound.

Falco peregrinus

The peregrine is the fastest animal in the world in a dive, reaching speeds exceeding 320 km/h.

Phalaropus lobatus

The red-necked phalarope breeds in Shetland and Orkney; unusually, the female is brighter and the male incubates the eggs.

Phasianus colchicus

The ring-necked pheasant was introduced to Britain from Asia and is now a very common sight across the countryside.

Ficedula hypoleuca

The European pied flycatcher is a summer visitor to upland oak woodland in Wales and northern England, readily using nest boxes.

Motacilla alba

The pied wagtail is one of Britain's best-known birds, constantly wagging its long tail as it runs over pavements and car parks.

Spinus pinus

The pine siskin is a North American finch and a very rare vagrant to Britain, occasionally appearing at garden feeders alongside Eurasian siskins.

Anser brachyrhynchus

Over 300,000 pink-footed geese winter in Britain, arriving from Iceland and Greenland in spectacular skeins each autumn.

Anas acuta

The northern pintail is among the most elegant of ducks, with the male's elongated tail feathers and chestnut head.

Aythya ferina

The common pochard is a diving duck with a chestnut head; large flocks gather on UK reservoirs and lakes in winter.

Stercorarius pomarinus

The pomarine skua is a passage migrant offshore around UK coasts, larger than the Arctic skua with twisted, spoon-shaped central tail feathers.

Lagopus muta

The rock ptarmigan lives on Scotland's highest mountain plateaux, turning white in winter for camouflage in the snow.

Calidris maritima

The purple sandpiper is a hardy winter visitor to rocky shores around the UK, often seen feeding alongside turnstones.

Coturnix coturnix

The common quail is a scarce and secretive summer visitor to UK farmland, far more often heard — its 'wet-my-lips' call — than seen.

Corvus corax

The common raven is the world's largest passerine bird, once widespread in Britain but now largely restricted to upland areas.

Alca torda

The razorbill is a stocky auk that breeds on cliff ledges around Britain, swimming underwater like a torpedo to pursue fish.

Lanius collurio

The red-backed shrike was once a common UK breeder but is now only a scarce passage migrant; the male is boldly coloured.

Mergus serrator

The red-breasted merganser is a sleek, fish-eating duck with a spiky crest, breeding on Scottish and Welsh rivers and wintering on coasts.

Falco vespertinus

A scarce but annual spring vagrant to Britain from Eastern Europe, often appearing at coastal headlands after east winds.

Lagopus lagopus

The red grouse is a distinctive bird of heather moorland, a subspecies unique to Britain and Ireland.

Milvus milvus

The red kite is a medium-large bird of prey, successfully reintroduced to much of the UK after near extinction.

Alectoris rufa

The red-legged partridge was introduced to Britain from southern Europe and is now widespread, often released for shooting.

Podiceps grisegena

A scarce winter visitor to UK coasts and inland reservoirs, the red-necked grebe breeds across northern Europe.

Tringa totanus

The common redshank, the 'sentinel of the marshes', is one of the most vocal and alert of all wading birds, breeding at UK wetlands.

Phoenicurus phoenicurus

The common redstart is a summer visitor to upland oak woodland in the north and west, the male with a vivid orange-red tail.

Gavia stellata

Britain's smallest and most numerous diver, breeding on remote Scottish lochs and wintering around all UK coasts.

Turdus iliacus

The redwing is Britain's smallest true thrush and the first sign of autumn, arriving from Iceland and Scandinavia in large nocturnal flocks.

Emberiza schoeniclus

The reed bunting breeds at wetlands but has spread to farmland and gardens, the male with a smart black head and white moustache.

Acrocephalus scirpaceus

The Eurasian reed warbler breeds in reedbeds and is the primary host of the cuckoo in southern England.

Charadrius hiaticula

The common ringed plover breeds on UK coastal shingle beaches and arctic tundra, wintering on estuaries in large numbers.

Turdus torquatus

The ring ouzel is the 'mountain blackbird', breeding on upland moorland and crags in northern Britain and wintering in the Mediterranean.

Erithacus rubecula

The European robin is Britain's unofficial national bird, famous for its year-round song and association with Christmas cards.

Anthus petrosus

The rock pipit is a large, dark pipit of rocky coastlines, skulking among seaweed and boulders around the British coast.

Coracias garrulus

The European roller is a rare vagrant to Britain from southern Europe, brilliant electric-blue with spectacular tumbling display flight.

Corvus frugilegus

The rook is a sociable crow of farmland, nesting in large rookeries in tall trees; its bare white face patch distinguishes it from the carrion crow.

Sterna dougallii

The roseate tern is one of Britain's rarest seabirds, with only a handful of colonies remaining, prized for its pinkish flush and long tail streamers.

Pastor roseus

The rose-coloured or rosy starling is a scarce but annual vagrant to Britain from southern Asia, often seen at berry-bearing bushes.

Buteo lagopus

The rough-legged buzzard is a scarce winter visitor from Scandinavia, favouring open coastal marshes and farmland.

Oxyura jamaicensis

The ruddy duck, introduced from North America, has a small resident population in the UK following control programmes to protect the endangered white-headed duck.

Calidris pugnax

The ruff is famous for the elaborate neck ruffs that males display at leks in spring; a few pairs breed in Britain and many winter here.

Calidris alba

The sanderling is a small, fast-running wader that dashes along sandy beaches in pursuit of retreating waves.

Riparia riparia

The sand martin is the first swallow-family migrant to arrive in Britain each spring, nesting in colonies in sandy riverbanks.

Thalasseus sandvicensis

The sandwich tern is the largest common tern in Britain, breeding in noisy colonies on sand and shingle beaches.

Aythya marila

The greater scaup is a scarce winter visitor from Iceland and Scandinavia, favouring coastal bays and large inland waters.

Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

The sedge warbler is a summer visitor to wetlands, delivering an exuberant churring and mimicking song from waterside vegetation.

Gulosus aristotelis

The European shag is a smaller, glossy-green relative of the cormorant, restricted to rocky coasts and rarely seen inland.

Tadorna tadorna

The common shelduck is a large, boldly patterned duck of UK estuaries and sandy coasts, often nesting in rabbit burrows.

Eremophila alpestris

The horned or shore lark is a scarce winter visitor to UK coastal fields and beaches, with striking yellow and black facial markings.

Asio flammeus

The short-eared owl hunts in daylight over open moorland and coastal marshes, quartering the ground on long wings.

Spatula clypeata

The northern shoveler has an unmistakable spatula-shaped bill used to filter food from water. It breeds and winters at UK wetlands.

Spinus spinus

The Eurasian siskin is a small, agile finch that breeds in conifer woodland and visits garden feeders in winter in increasing numbers.

Alauda arvensis

The Eurasian skylark delivers its famous continuous, complex song in sustained hovering flight above farmland, now declining due to agricultural change.

Podiceps auritus

The Slavonian grebe is a rare breeding bird in Scotland and a winter visitor to sheltered coasts, with striking golden ear tufts in breeding plumage.

Gallinago gallinago

The common snipe is a cryptically patterned wading bird of boggy ground, famous for its 'drumming' display and zigzag flight when flushed.

Plectrophenax nivalis

The snow bunting breeds on Scotland's highest mountaintops and winters on UK coastal beaches, the male with stunning white and black plumage.

Bubo scandiacus

The snowy owl is a rare winter visitor to Scotland's Northern Isles from the Arctic; it bred briefly on Fetlar, Shetland in the 1960s–70s.

Turdus philomelos

The song thrush is famous for its rich, repetitive song and for using a stone as an anvil to smash open snail shells.

Accipiter nisus

The Eurasian sparrowhawk is a small, agile woodland hawk that hunts small birds in fast, twisting pursuits through cover.

Platalea leucorodia

The spoonbill is a distinctive white wading bird with a spatula-shaped bill, now a regular visitor and scarce breeder in southern England.

Porzana porzana

The spotted crake is a scarce and secretive passage migrant and very rare breeder at UK reedbeds.

Muscicapa striata

The spotted flycatcher is a late-arriving summer visitor, sallying from a perch to catch insects in the air and returning to the same spot.

Tringa erythropus

The spotted redshank passes through the UK in spring and autumn; in breeding plumage it is a stunning sooty-black wader.

Sturnus vulgaris

The common starling is famous for its murmurations — vast, swirling flocks that create aerial acrobatics over UK roost sites each winter.

Columba oenas

The stock dove is a smaller, more compact relative of the woodpigeon, nesting in tree holes and cliff cavities across rural Britain.

Saxicola rubicola

The European stonechat perches on gorse and heather, flicking its wings; both sexes have an alarm call like two stones being knocked together.

Burhinus oedicnemus

The stone curlew is a mysterious bird of chalk downland and sandy heaths, more active at night and extraordinarily well camouflaged by day.

Hydrobates pelagicus

Europe's smallest seabird, the storm petrel breeds on remote islands around Britain and spends its non-breeding life far out at sea.

Hirundo rustica

The barn swallow is a migratory bird that arrives in the UK in spring and is one of the most celebrated signs of summer.

Apus apus

The common swift is perhaps the most aerial of all birds, spending almost its entire life in the air.

Strix aluco

The tawny owl is Britain's most common owl, responsible for the classic twit-twoo — actually a combination of two calls from male and female.

Anas crecca

The Eurasian teal is Britain's smallest dabbling duck, breeding on moorland bogs and wintering in huge flocks on estuaries.

Certhia familiaris

The Eurasian treecreeper spirals mouse-like up tree trunks, probing bark crevices with its curved bill for insects.

Anthus trivialis

The tree pipit is a summer visitor to open woodland and heathland, parachuting down from its song-flight to a tree top.

Passer montanus

The Eurasian tree sparrow is a smaller relative of the house sparrow, now scarce in Britain but recovering from major population crashes.

Aythya fuligula

The tufted duck is Britain's most numerous diving duck, with the male's black and white plumage and drooping tuft unmistakeable.

Arenaria interpres

The ruddy turnstone flips over pebbles and seaweed in search of food on UK rocky shores, a colourful visitor that rarely breeds here.

Streptopelia turtur

The turtle dove is Britain's fastest declining bird, a summer visitor whose purring song has all but disappeared from the countryside.

Linaria flavirostris

The twite is a moorland finch, breeding in upland Britain and wintering on coastal saltmarshes; it has declined significantly.

Melanitta fusca

The velvet scoter is a large seaduck, a scarce winter visitor to UK coasts, usually found mixed in with common scoter flocks.

Anthus spinoletta

The water pipit is a scarce winter visitor to watercress beds and wet fields in southern Britain, breeding in Alpine and southern European mountains.

Rallus aquaticus

The water rail is a shy reedbed bird, heard far more often than it is seen; its piglet-like squealing call is unmistakeable.

Bombycilla garrulus

The Bohemian waxwing is an irruptive winter visitor from Scandinavia, arriving in large flocks to strip rowan and berry trees.

Oenanthe oenanthe

The northern wheatear is one of the first summer migrants to arrive in Britain, bounding across moorland and flashing a white rump.

Numenius phaeopus

The whimbrel is smaller than the curlew with a striped crown; it breeds in Shetland and Orkney and is a common spring and autumn passage bird.

Saxicola rubetra

The whinchat is a declining summer visitor to upland grassland and bracken slopes, with a distinctive white supercilium.

Anser albifrons

The white-fronted goose is a winter visitor to Britain, with the Greenlandic race favouring western Ireland and Wales.

Haliaeetus albicilla

Britain's largest bird of prey with a wingspan up to 2.4 metres, reintroduced to England after 240 years.

Curruca communis

The common whitethroat is a summer visitor to scrubby habitats across Britain, with a scratchy but vigorous song delivered from the top of brambles.

Cygnus cygnus

The whooper swan is a large winter visitor from Iceland to UK wetlands, distinguished by its yellow and black bill.

Mareca penelope

The Eurasian wigeon is a striking duck; large flocks winter on UK estuaries and coastal grasslands, often feeding at night.

Poecile montanus

The willow tit is very similar to the marsh tit but prefers damper woodland habitats; it is one of Britain's most rapidly declining birds.

Phylloscopus trochilus

The willow warbler is Britain's most numerous summer migrant, its cascading, melodic song heard in woodland and scrub throughout the country.

Scolopax rusticola

The Eurasian woodcock is a plump, camouflaged wader of woodland; males perform 'roding' display flights at dusk in spring.

Lullula arborea

The woodlark is a heathland and woodland-edge lark with a beautiful, liquid, looping song, which breeds in southern England.

Columba palumbus

The common woodpigeon is the UK's most abundant bird, a large, plump dove of woodlands, farmland and gardens with a cooing call.

Tringa glareola

The wood sandpiper is a delicate, graceful wader that passes through the UK in spring and autumn, occasionally breeding in Scotland.

Phylloscopus sibilatrix

The wood warbler breeds in western oak woods with sparse understorey, producing a shivering trill as it flutters among the canopy.

Troglodytes troglodytes

The Eurasian wren is Britain's most abundant bird species, a tiny yet remarkably loud singer found in virtually every habitat.

Jynx torquilla

The wryneck is a peculiar relative of woodpeckers, now only a scarce passage migrant in Britain, once a regular breeding bird.

Phylloscopus inornatus

The yellow-browed warbler is an increasingly regular autumn vagrant from Siberia, now seen in hundreds at coastal headlands each year.

Emberiza citrinella

The yellowhammer is a bright-yellow farmland bunting whose song is traditionally remembered as 'a-little-bit-of-bread-and-no-cheese'.

Motacilla flava

The yellow wagtail is a vividly coloured summer visitor to wet meadows and arable fields, declining in Britain as habitats are lost.