19 Common Birds To Spot In Your Garden
Your British garden can be home to a large array of beautiful birds and wildlife - learn about them here and see if you have them in your garden!
1. The Robin
This is our favourite of the garden birds - if you hadn't guessed! These little guys are one of the easiest to spot with their full orange chest. These can be spotted throughout the year but especially at Christmas!
You can buy our birdseed mix suitable for robins here.
2. The Collared Dove
These birds can be confused with pigeons but collared doves have a pale, pink-grey to brown in colour, with a distinctive black ‘collar’ around their necks which give them their name and identify them for garden spotting.
They can also be identified with their reddish eyes and feet and their familiar monotonous cooing sound.
You can buy our collared dove and wood pigeon seed mix here.
3. The Wood Pigeon
The wood pigeon is the most common pigeon in the UK and also the largest. They can be identified by their largely grey body and white patched on the neck and wings.
Much like the collared dove, it has a distinctive and repetitive cooing song.
You can buy our collared dove and wood pigeon seed mix here.
4. The Great Tit
These cuties always give the most serious of us a chuckle. The great tit is the largest of the tits found in our gardens and can easily be spotted with their white cheeks and two syllable song.
Did you know? In the winter these guys form a flock with other breeds of tit.
You can buy our tit birdseed mix here.
5. The Blue Tit
Arguably the most famous of the garden tits, the blue tit is very colourful and easily recognised by its blue and green colours.
They tend to flock in groups in the winter to search for food.
You can buy our tit birdseed mix here.
6. The Long-Tailed Tit
The long-tailed tit is a social bird, so you will usually see them in groups around your feeder!
They are fairly easy to spot by their long tail that is longer than their body, along with their pink and black fluffy body.
You can buy our tit birdseed mix here.
7. The Coal Tit
This little bird is more dark grey/black than other garden tits. The coal tit has a white mark on its back and black head.
Like its relative the blue tit it joins other breeds of tits during the winter months to search for food.
You can buy our tit birdseed mix here.
8. The Greenfinch
The greenfinch is a colourful bird with a distinctive finch beak. It flashes yellows and greens when it flies and you can find them all year round in our gardens.
Their favourite food are tasty sunflower hearts.
9. The Dunnock
The Dunnock is a little harder to spot. These solitary birds usually shuffle/hop around flower beds and bushes.
You will find them feeding off the ground and love a cheeky mealworm.
10. The Goldcrest
These cuties are the smallest bird in the UK. They are easily identifiable by their strong yellow strip across their head.
You can also tell their gender quite effortlessly and impress your mates. The males have an orange middle to their yellow stripe where as the girls do not.
Goldcrests absolutely love suet and mealworms.
11. The Wren
Wrens are small brown round little birds with a fine tail. They are the UK's most common breeding bird and tend to be quite loud!
Wrens also love suet and mealworms.
12. The Jay
The Jay is a member of the crow family and it can be seen across most of the UK, apart from the far northern areas. They tend to be harder to spot as they love to hide in woodland and coniferous trees.
Jays love an acorn, peanut or mealworm.
13. The Carrion Crow
These crows can be quite wary of humans, however if they like your garden they will be sure to return. They are usually found on their own or in pairs and are quite clever!
Carrion crows and crows in general tend to eat peanuts, fruit, seed and even chicken or dog food! The meat shouldn't be regularly left out for them however.
14. Magpie
If you cant spot these, you should probably go for an eye test 😜. The magpie is a noisy bird with distinctive black and white colouring and a very long tail.
Magpies are scavengers like crows and also tend to eat peanuts, fruit, seed and even chicken or dog food! The meat shouldn't be regularly left out for them however.
15. The House Sparrow
The House Sparrow is in serious decline in some parts of Britain and can be identified by its chestnut back and black patterns. These little guys beaks turn yellow in the winter and black in the warmer months.
They also sometimes create nests on the floor and their young spend their first 15-17 days out of the nest on the floor. This means many of us find these tiny babies and think they need help, but its important to leave these as their mum is usually close by.
The House Sparrow will eat just about anything: sunflower hearts, high energy seed, peanuts, suet, mealworms kitchen scraps, etc.
16. The Starling
Starlings have super pretty black/purple spotty feathers and are slightly smaller than blackbirds. They are super noisy and social and usually travel in flocks, making them easy to spot in your garden.
These guys will also eat just about anything: sunflower hearts, high energy seed, peanuts, suet, mealworms kitchen scraps, etc.
17. The Blackbird
Male Blackbirds look like their name, they have black feathers and a bright orange beak and eyeliner. The females however, are mainly brown in colour and can have different patterns on their breasts.
Blackbirds are easy to attract as they love most birdseed and treats.
18. The Chaffinch
The Chaffinch is the UK's second most common bird and its pretty striking! If you are looking for them, start off looking below your feeder, they love to hop on the ground and in hedges for food.
They also have quite a loud song and love a mealworm!
19. The Goldfinch
The Goldfinch is a super colourful garden bird with its bright yellow wings and red face. These guys only stay for the summer and migrate to Spain in the winter (a bird after our own hearts).
These birds love sunflower hearts and nyjer seed in long bird feeders.
Be sure to check out our wide range of birdseed to keep your garden birds happy and healthy! The RSPB also have a great bird identifier, if you're struggling to identify! Read Now.