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Both sexes of this bird have similar colouring but the females are slightly paler. What is it?

British Birds - Garden Birds 01 - Most Common

Spot the UK’s most common garden birds by colour, call and behaviour. From feeders to hedges, learn where they live and what they eat.

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Fascinating Fact:

Dunnocks are easy to miss because they are grey-brown and quiet, and they often feed on the ground near bushes.

In Specialist Nature, learning the most common garden birds is a great way to build quick, confident identification skills. Start with shape and behaviour, not just colour: watch how a bird moves, where it perches, and how it uses its beak. Many familiar species visit feeders, but others prefer shrubs, lawns, or tree canopies. Season matters too, as numbers change in winter, and young birds in summer can look different from adults. With a few simple clues, you can tell similar birds apart and understand why your garden attracts certain species.

Key Terms

Identification: Working out which species a bird is by using clues like size, shape, markings, and behaviour.
Territory: An area a bird defends for feeding or breeding, often with song or chasing.
Feeder hygiene: Keeping feeders and bird tables clean to reduce the spread of disease.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What are the most common garden birds in the UK?

Common UK garden birds include robins, blackbirds, blue tits, great tits, house sparrows, starlings, wrens, woodpigeons and magpies. What you see most depends on habitat and season.

How can I attract more birds to my garden in the UK?

Provide fresh water, a mix of foods (seeds, suet and mealworms), and safe cover like hedges or dense shrubs. Put feeders where cats cannot ambush, and clean feeding areas regularly.

How do I tell similar small brown garden birds apart?

Compare bill shape, head pattern, and posture. Sparrows look chunkier with thicker bills, while other small brown birds can be slimmer with finer bills. Watching movement and listening to calls also helps.

Try These Related Quizzes

To see a larger image, click on the picture.

1 .

What is this common garden bird?

Photograph courtesy of Paul Lomax

Yellowhammer

Common Starling

Reed Bunting

Dunnock

Group: Starlings
Binomial: Sturnus vulgaris
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sturnidae
Status: Resident Breeding Species And Winter Visitor
The base of their bills are blue for boys and pink for girls!
In the autumn massive flocks congregate in what are known as "murmurations"

2 .

What is this common garden bird?

Photograph courtesy of Pete Birkinshaw

Song Thrush

European Stonechat

Blackbird

Fieldfare

Group: Thrushes
Binomial: Turdus merula
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
Mature males are glossy black but females and young are a lighter reddish-brown
Albinism leads to the contradictory terminology of "White Blackbirds" but birds are seldom completely white

3 .

What is this common garden bird?

Photograph courtesy of Jimfbleak

European Robin

European Stonechat

Song Thrush

Fieldfare

Group: Thrushes
Binomial: Erithacus rubecula
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
Males and females are identical but youngsters are a speckled brown with no red feathers
Fiercely territorial
They have an excellent voice and sometimes sing at night to streetlights

4 .

What is this common garden bird?

Photograph courtesy of Horia Varlan

Shore Lark

Common Pied Oystercatcher

Ring Ouzel

Collared Dove

Group: Pigeons and Doves
Binomial: Streptopelia decaocto
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
Adults have a black and white collar around the back of the neck but this is missing in young birds
Very uncommon in the UK until the mid 1900's - now one of our most often seen birds

5 .

What is this common garden bird?

Photograph courtesy of Lip Kee

Tree Sparrow

Reed Bunting

House Sparrow

Yellowhammer

Group: Sparrows
Binomial: Passer domesticus
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Passeridae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
Once common throughout the UK but now in decline in many areas
The size of the black bib determines the bird's dominance within its community
It is normally found wherever there is a concentration of people

6 .

What is this common garden bird?

Photograph courtesy of Maximilian Dorsch

Willow Tit

Greater Spotted Woodpecker

Marsh Tit

Blue Tit

Group: Tits
Binomial: Parus caeruleus
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paridae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
Both sexes have similar colouring but the females are slightly paler
Smaller than the Great Tit and without the prominent black stripe down its front
It does not migrate

7 .

What is this common garden bird?

Photograph courtesy of MPF

Eurasian Bullfinch

Eurasian Siskin

European Goldfinch

Lesser Redpoll

Group: Finches
Binomial: Carduelis carduelis
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Fringillidae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
Look for the bright red face and striking white, gold, black and brown on the rest of the body
A group of them are called a "Charm"
Put out Niger seed to attract them to your birdtable

8 .

What is this common garden bird?

Photograph courtesy of Barney Livingston

Willow Tit

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Green Woodpecker

Group: Tits
Binomial: Parus major
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paridae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
The largest of the UK tits
There is a prominent black stripe down the whole of the front
Widely distributed in the UK but not found on the Northern and Western Isles of Scotland

9 .

What is this common garden bird?

Photograph courtesy of http://www.photo-natur.de/

Chaffinch

European Goldfinch

Eurasian Bullfinch

Common Crossbill

Group: Finches
Binomial: Fringilla coelebs
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Fringillidae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
Look for the distinctive white wing bars on both males and females
Females and young have more subdued colours
The most common finch found in the British Isles

10 .

What is this common garden bird?

Photograph courtesy of Tristan Ferne

Mealy Redpoll

Wood Pigeon

Bearded Tit

Pied Flycatcher

Group: Pigeons and Doves
Binomial: Columba palumbus
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
Birds have a prominent white area around their neck, eyes are bright yellow and legs and bills are pink
On the ground they "Waddle"!
In frosty weather huge flocks devour farmers crops