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The flight of this bird is fast, direct and usually low over water. A firm favourite.

British Birds - Miscellaneous 01

Birdwatching gets easier when you know the “oddballs”. This quiz covers a mixed bag of British birds and the simple clues that help you identify them.

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Fascinating Fact:

Wrens are tiny, round-looking brown birds, but they have a surprisingly loud voice for their size. They are one of the UK’s most familiar breeding birds and a regular garden visitor.

In Specialist Nature, “miscellaneous” bird quizzes are great because they teach flexible spotting skills. Instead of relying on one feature, you learn to combine shape, bill, leg length, flight style, habitat, and behaviour. A bird’s perch choice, feeding method, and movement can be as useful as colour. If you build a quick checklist in your head, you will get faster and more confident each time you watch.

Key Terms

Field mark: A noticeable feature used to identify a bird, such as a wing bar, eye stripe, or tail shape.
Habitat: The type of place a bird lives and feeds, like woodland, farmland, wetlands, or gardens.
Behaviour: What a bird does, such as how it flies, forages, perches, or reacts to danger.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What does a wren look like in the UK?

A UK wren is a small, warm-brown bird with fine barring on its wings and tail, often held upright. It moves quickly through hedges, ivy, and low branches.

How can I tell a wren from a dunnock?

Wrens usually have a more upright tail and a quicker, darting way of moving in cover. Dunnocks look greyer, especially on the head and chest, and they often feed more openly on the ground.

What are the best clues for identifying unfamiliar British birds?

Start with size and shape, then check bill type, leg length, and tail posture. Next, note the habitat and how the bird feeds or flies. These clues narrow the options fast.

Try These Related Quizzes

To see a larger image, click on the picture.

1 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of Steve Garvie

Whitethroat

Sooty Shearwater

Wren

Stock Dove

Group: Old World Warblers
Binomial: Sylvia communis
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sylviidae
Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
The song is fast and scratchy, with a scolding tone.
This is a bird of open country and cultivation, with bushes for nesting.
The nest is built in low shrub or brambles and 3-7 eggs are laid.

2 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of J M Garg

Sooty Shearwater

Ring-necked Parakeet

Common Kingfisher

Stone Curlew

Group: Kingfishers
Binomial: Alcedo atthis
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Alcedinidae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
The flight is fast, direct and usually low over water.
The short rounded wings whirr rapidly.
It has no song.
The flight call is a short sharp whistle, 'chee', repeated two or three times.

3 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of Unknown

Whitethroat

Stock Dove

Stone Curlew

Sooty Shearwater

Group: Thick-knees
Binomial: Burhinus oedicnemus
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Burhinidae
Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
A strange, rare summer visitor to southern England.
It is largely nocturnal, particularly when singing its loud wailing songs.
Its large yellow eyes enable it to locate food when it is dark.

4 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of Martien Brand

Little Egret

Wren

Common Kingfisher

Sooty Shearwater

Group: Wren
Binomial: Troglodytes troglodytes
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Troglodytidae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
Tiny birds that weigh about the same as a £1.00 coin
Forever twitching and moving around
Tail sticks out from the body at an oddly twisted angle
Very loud voice for such a small bird

5 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of Mike Baird

Common Kingfisher

European Nightjar

Sooty Shearwater

Ring-necked Parakeet

Group: Shearwaters and Petrels
Binomial: Puffinus griseus
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Status: Passage Migrant
It makes a huge clockwise migration up the western Atlantic in spring to spend the northern summer there.
Then in summer/autumn it moves down into UK waters on its return to the southern ocean to breed.

6 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of Chris Cant

Whitethroat

European Nightjar

Stock Dove

Little Egret

Group: Pigeons and Doves
Binomial: Columba oenas
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
It perches well, and in nuptial display walks along a horizontal branch with swelled neck, lowered wings, and fanned tail.
During the circling spring flight the wings are smartly cracked like a whip.

7 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of J M Garg

Ring-necked Parakeet

Little Egret

Stone Curlew

Stock Dove

Group: Parrots
Binomial: Psittacula krameri
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Status: Resident Introduced Population
Often found in flocks, numbering hundreds at a roost site, it can be very noisy.
Found mainly in south-east England, particularly Surrey, Kent and Sussex.
Eats fruit, berries, nuts and seeds.

8 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of Ecologyweb

Ring-necked Parakeet

Sooty Shearwater

Common Kingfisher

European Nightjar

Group: Nightjars
Binomial: Caprimulgus europaeus
Order: Caprimulgiformes
Family: Caprimulgidae
Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
A nocturnal bird and can be seen hawking for food at dusk and dawn.
They have an almost supernatural reputation with their silent flight and their mythical ability to steal milk from goats.

9 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of Mike Baird

Ring-necked Parakeet

Stock Dove

Common Kingfisher

Grey Phalarope

Group: Sandpipers and allies
Binomial: Phalaropus fulicaria
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Status: Scarce Winter Visitor
Once the females lay their olive-brown eggs, they begin their southward migration, leaving the males to incubate the eggs and care for the young.
The young mainly feed themselves and are able to fly within 18 days of birth.

10 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of Birdman 1

Grey Phalarope

Stone Curlew

Sooty Shearwater

Little Egret

Group: Bitterns, Herons and Egrets
Binomial: Egretta garzetta
Order: Ciconiiformes
Family: Ardeidae
Status: Resident Breeding Species And Passage Migrant
These birds are mostly silent but make various croaking and bubbling calls at their breeding colonies.
They are listed in the coronation feast of King Henry VI in 1429.