Which Winter Birds Love Our UK Gardens?
HAS YOUR GARDEN GONE QUIET? You may be thinking that there is little left in your garden now but falling leaves, driving rain and blustery wind. That all your beautiful garden birds have left the UK and migrated south for better weather and warmer climes. But all is not lost – happily most of our feathered garden friends are actually winter garden birds too. Resident all-year-round, you just might need to encourage them to show themselves.
There’s certainly less birdsong filling our gardens in the winter months. Most birds show-off their singing talents in Spring to attract mates in the main breeding season. During winter garden birds are quieter – staying silent to conserve their energy as their food sources get less. (Apart from the Robin – who sings all year round!).
But though they may have gone quiet the increasingly bare branches make it easier for us to spot winter garden birds at this time of year especially if you help them forage from your bird feeders and you fill them with nuts and seeds. There are lots of beautiful little birds still out there – the Robin, the Blue Tit, the niger seed loving Gold Finch, the hoarding Nuthatch, the elegant Long Tailed Tit, the peanut devouring Coal Tit, the Blackbird, Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Gold Crest and Dunnock (hedge sparrow) are all birds that stay in the UK in winter.
The most visible UK winter garden birds
I love a Robin! Probably the most famous winter garden bird! I have a couple that are so brave and friendly they hang around with me all year round whenever I am in the garden.
Apparently most Robins (Erithacus rubecula) never stray further than 5km from their home, whatever the season, but maybe we associate them more with winter because their striking red breast is more visible when the foliage dies down. I recently found out that they are so popular that in 2015 they were voted our first-ever national bird.
Winter can be tough on little birds like robins. They have to build up big energy reserves to survive the cold nights. A robin’s diet consists of seeds, fruits, insects, worms and other invertebrates. It will also visit garden bird tables and feeders to feed on scraps and mealworms. European migrant robins head here to join our resident ones looking for seeds and energy rich food.
However some, mostly the female Robins, migrate the UK for warmer climates before winter arrives, crossing the Channel to as far afield as Spain or Portugal, and returning to the UK with the warmer weather.
The Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) is another winter garden favourite and easy to spot because of their bright cerulean and yellow-green colouring. This seems to be the most popular bird in my garden, they love the apple tree which is just outside my kitchen window. During the day, you’ll often see them spending time on bird feeders, consuming large amounts of seeds and suet to get them through cold winter nights. They are also after insects and spiders (maybe that is why they like the apple tree!) and can eat up to 30% of their body weight in food each day.
Some birds leave, but the UK also attracts lots of other winter migrant birds
Although some of our UK birds such as swallows and swifts leave to spend the winter in Africa there are actually several species of birds that migrate to us in winter from Northern Europe and Russia.
Amy Lewis of the Woodland Trust says some years can be better than others, but it’s thought that when trees and hedgerows have poor fruiting years in Scandinavia and other parts of continental Europe, migrant winter birds are more likely to arrive here in numbers. They come in search of a meal and more forgiving weather conditions, and if the wind direction is favourable they can arrive in their thousands.
Keep an eye out for some interesting winter bird visitors
Bramblings, Siskins, and Redpoll are all seed-eaters, looking for bird tables to their liking. They love black sunflower seeds and sunflower hearts. They look very similar to Chaffinches and Greenfinches, and often travel in large mixed flocks. Keep an eye out for birds that look a bit different to your usual garden visitors.
Brambling in winter
Waxwing
The Waxwing, is one of our most exotic winter visitors. With distinctive silky, grey-pink plumage and fabulous crest, a black bib under the beak and a black eye mask. It gets its name from the waxy red tips coating some of the wing feathers and the end of its squarish tail is bright yellow, with some yellow highlights also on the wings. Mostly found in the east of the country they often are spotted in gardens and orchards. These are greedy birds, typically eating 800-1000 berries a day, almost twice their bodyweight! But they are happy if you offer them a mealworm in the winter!
Blackcaps were originally just summer visitors to the UK, but more and more of them can be seen in Britain year-round, with an increasing number migrating from mainland Europe to spend winter in our gardens. Males have the eponymous black cap, whereas females sport a chestnut quiff. For both, the rest of their body is generally grey, with a lighter underside. Once the fruit supply runs low, you can encourage blackcaps into your garden with suet and sunflower seeds. The Garden Blackcap Survey in 2013 found that they are most fond of fat-based foods.
Between September and March, 10-20 million chaffinches fly here from Scandinavia and Western Europe to join our resident chaffinches.
Starlings flock here fleeing the severe cold in Eastern Europe particularly in October. According to experts, one UK starling roost numbered close to one million over-wintering birds! Before they settle down for the night, the birds perform synchronised aerial acrobatics known as murmurations. Why starlings perform their incredible whirling flight is still a bit of a mystery but you can spot the wonderful murmurations from November to February.
Encourage more winter birds into your garden this winter.
Take a look at our selection of Bird Feeder Trees, Bird Feeders and Food
Your garden birds will love you for it!
