Winter can often seem quiet and lifeless, but — if the right attractions, food and water, are consistently left out — it is not difficult to attract a little bit of noise into your back garden!
This year, the Big Garden Birdwatch¹ takes place on the 24th, 25th, and 26th of January, 2025 and registration has already opened through the RSBP app. As long as you have access to any area of space or greenery, you are free to take a moment admiring the feathery visitors.
The purpose of the BGBW is to count the kinds of birds seen in your garden, and forward that data to the RSPB, in order to give the organisation a better grasp on the movement and population sizes of birds all around the UK! By taking an hour to watch the outside world, and supplying that data to the RSPB, you are not only furthering research into the populations of our feathery companions, thereby enabling organisations like the RSPB to monitor and provide information about them, but also helping yourself along the way! Studies such as Ratcliffe et al’s (2013)² has suggested that birdsong significantly affects stress recovery.
By clicking the first link in the Bibliography — or searching for Big Garden Birdwatch 2025 — you will be given a bird guide; a small form that describes to you what sort of birds you should look for, and how to forward that information elsewhere. The only rule is to count the largest number of the same bird — e.g. if you see three robins in the morning, and one robin a little later, you should only count three robins — and to note it down.
Apps I would personally recommend, for people who enjoy birdwatching and aim to continue, are BirdTrack and MerlinID, the latter of which being able to recognise a bird by its song, by a picture, or by size and colour!
Websites I would personally recommend are FeatherBase³ — which contains over 8000 feather specimens for over 2000 species of birds, in case one wants to identify a single feather — and BTO.org⁴, the British Trust for Ornithology, which showcases information, latest news, and allows you to join groups/volunteer with other bird enthusiasts!
There are actually many winter visitors to our gardens from November through to February, looking for food or nesting sites, as birds do not hibernate like certain mammals do. Common friends to look out for are:
• The Robin — Britain’s favourite bird, smartly dressed in a little orange waistcoat.
• The Blackbird — a black thrush with a bright orange bill (male) or a simple brown thrush (female) — look out for their speckled young in later months!
• Blue tit — a small blue and yellow bird.
• Great tit — larger than the blue tit, with more greyish wings and a dark head.
• House sparrow — small brown bird with a pale chest and face.
Rarer birds seen in our gardens include:
• Long-tailed tits — adorable pink birds with black brows and long tails
• Pied/grey wagtails — small and speckled, black and white, these birds’ tails bounce consistently as they move.
• Coal tits — small yellow birds with black and grey wings and head.
• Goldfinches — beautiful birds with a thick beak, a red face, and golden stripes on their wings.
• Goldcrests — the tiniest bird in Europe, these birds are easily recognisable for their bright yellow crowns.
Birds that are not traditionally classified as garden birds, but may be seen:
• Magpies — gorgeous, iridescent, black and white birds, about the size of crows.
• Crows — all black birds with deep, throaty caws.
• Rooks — all black birds, bigger than crows, with white bills.
• Jackdaws — all black birds with white eyes.
• Jays — beige/pink birds with bright blue wing feathers.
We are fortunate enough as a school to have access to an orchard that is looked after thoroughly and cultivated to be as biodiverse as possible, so, why not relieve yourself of some of that stress — some of our exams are just around the corner — and say hello to some of our protected species, such as song thrushes, stock doves, and swifts! On occasion, caught on the camera feed, this orchard becomes host to barn owls, another protected species, and a pheasant is often seen roaming around the entrances.
This winter — every winter — should be a time to keep an eye out for our sweetest visitors, and especially to leave them food to keep them healthy and warm! Recommended foods are seeds, suet, cheese, and dry fruits.
Happy birdwatching!
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