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20 Common Wild Birds in your Garden

The best way to attract wild birds into your garden is to feed them.  By using bird tables - ideal for larger birds, hanging feeders  which are great for encouraging smaller birds such as blue and coal tits, and ground feeders from which wrens and dunnocks like to feed from, filled with a variety of bird seeds, nuts, fat balls and mealworm, you'll soon be able to observe a wide variety of wild birds right up to your window.   Wild Birds should be fed all year round, but especially during autumn and winter when natural foods are in short supply. And don't forget, water is essential to wild birds so  keep water bowls full of clean water, but remember to place your bird feeders, bird tables and bird baths away from bushes and other areas of the garden where preditors might hide.  To help you identify some of the birds that might visit your garden, the team at Garden Essentials has compiled a list 20 most commonly found wild birds in gardens across the UK, a short description of each one, their Latin name, what they eat at when you can expect to see them.

COMMON NAME LATIN NAME RECOGNISABLE FEATURES IN THE GARDEN WHICH FOOD

Blackbird

 Turdus Merula Blackbirds are one of the most common birds in Britain.  Bright orange or yellow beak and eye-ring are striking features of the male blackbird.  Females are brown and will often have streaks and spots on their breasts. All year round insects, worms & berries  

 Blue Tit

 Cyanistes Caeruleus Almost any garden with a peanut feeder will attract them.  A mix of blue, yellow, white and green, blue tits readily breed in nest boxes.  All year round insects, caterpillars, seeds & nuts  

 

Bullfinch

 Pyrrhula Pyrrhula Usually found in pairs, the male bullfinch has a bright pinky-red breast and cheeks.  grey back, black cap and tail and bright white rump. All year round seeds, nuts & insects (for young)  

 

Chaffinch

 Fringilla Coelebs The most colourful of the UK's finches, its plumage helps it blend in when feeding and is most obvious when it flies, revealing a flash of white on the wings and outer tail feathers.  The chaffinch prefers to feed off the ground. All year round insects & seeds  

 

Coal Tit

 Periparus Ater A regular visitor to peanut feeders, the coal tit has a distinctive grey back, black cap and white patch at the back of the neck. All year round insects, seeds & nuts  

 

Dunnock

 Prunella Modularis A small brown and grey bird which keeps largely on the ground and close to cover. All year round insects, spiders, worm & seeds  

Godcrest

 Regulus Regulus The goldcrest is the UK's smallest songbird with a distinctive orange or yellow crown stripe. All year round insects  

Goldfinch

 Carduelis Carduels A colourful finch with a bright red face and yellow wing patch, increasingly visiting birdtables and feeders. All year round seeds & insects in the summer  

Great Tit

 Parus Major The largest UK tit - Green and yellow with a striking glossy black head and white cheeks - A familiar garden visitor.  The great tit can be quite aggressive around a birdtable. All year round insects, seeds & nuts  

House Sparrow

 Passer Domesticus Now struggling to survive in the UK, their numbers are declining in the garden and the wider countryside.  House sparrows feed and breed near people. All year round seeds & scraps  

Long Tailed Tit

  Aegithalos Caudatus The long tailed tit has a tail longer than its body and is easily recognisable with its distinctive colouring. All year round insects, occasionally seeds (winter & autumn)  

Mistle Thrush

 Turdus Viscivorus A large, aggressive and powerful black spotted thrush.  A widespread bird in the UK but absent from northern and western isles of Scotland. All year round worms, slugs, insects & berries  

Nuthatch

 Sitta Europaea The size of a great tit, it resembles a small woodpecker.  It is blue-grey above and whitish below, with chestnut on its sides and under its tail.  It has a black stripe on its head, a long black pointed bill and short legs. All year round insects, hazelnuts, acorn, other nuts & seeds  

Pied Wagtail

 Motacilla Alba A small, long-tailed and rather sprightly black and white bird, it can be seen dashing about over lawns or car parks in search of food. All year round insects  

Robin

 Erithacus Rubecula The UK's favourite bird.  With its bright red breast, it is familiar throughout the year and especially at Christmas!  Robins sing nearly all year round and despite their cute appreance, they are aggressively territorial and are quick to drive away intruders.  All year round worms, seeds, fruit and insects  

 

Siskin

 Carduelis Spinus The siskin is a small, lively finch with a distinctly forked tail and a long narrow bill.  The male has a streaky yellow-green body and a black crown and bib.  There are yellow patches in the wings and tail. All year round seeds & some insects  

Song Thrush

 Turdus Philomelos A familiar and popular garden songbird, smaller and browner than a mistle thrush with smaller spotting. It likes to eat snails which it breaks into by smashing them against a stone with a flick of the head. All year round worms, snails & fruit  

Tree Sparrow

 Passer Montanus Smaller than a house sparrow and more active, with its tail almost permanently cocked.  It has a chestnut brown head and nape and white cheeks, and a collar with a contrasting black cheek spot. All year round seeds & insects  

Willow Tit

 Poecile Montanus The willow tit is between blue and great tits in size, with no yellow, green or blue.  It has a large sooty black cap extending to the back of the neck and a small untidy black bib.  It is mid-brown above, with whiter cheeks and pale buff-grey underparts. All year round insects, seeds & berries  

Wren

 Troglotytes Troglotytes The wren is a tiny brown bird, although it is heavier and less slim than the even smaller goldcrest.  It is dumpy, almost rounded with a fine bill, quite long legs and toes, very short round wings and a short, narrow tail which is sometimes cocked up vertically. All year round insects & spiders