This factfile shows some common garden visitors in the UK and Eire. Length refers to distance between the tip of the bill and the end of the tail. Where the sexes are very different, the male is shown, with the female viewable by hovering over the image.

	Blackbird (Turdus merula) Length: 25cm Habitat: Woodlands, parks, gardens, hedgerows. Voice: Mellow, flute-like warbling. Makes a hysterical chattering noise when disturbed. Makes a 'chook chook' call note. Feeds: Ground, bird table. Eats berries from shrubs. Eats: Chopped fruit, berries, dried fruit, crumbled pastry, flaked corn, mealworms, earthworms, peanut granules, sunflower hearts. Breeding: Will use open-fronted nestboxes (CJ's sell a special blackbird nestbox). Female will construct the nest. 3-6 eggs per brood, with up to 5 broods, though usually 2 or 3. Notes: Male is sleek matt black, with bright yellow iris and beak. Female is dull brown, slightly speckled, though less than any other thrush. Will hop around with wings slightly drooped and tail held high.
	Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) Length: 13cm Habitat: Woodlands, thickets, parks, gardens. Voice: Rich, clear sweet singing. Call is 'tak' plus churring noises. Feeds: Ground, bird table, feeders. Eats: Chopped fruit, dried fruit, mealworms, sunflower hearts, peanut granules, kitchen scraps. Breeding: Starts April-May. Male constructs several partly-built nests, and female chooses her favourite, which she then enhances and completes. 4-6 eggs incubated by both parents in turns. Possibly 2 broods per year, though usually only one. Notes: The blackcaps seen in winter are different birds to our breeding pairs. Winter visitors generally return to their terretories further north in spring and summer, and summer visitors return further south to winter. The male has the black cap, the female has reddish-brown cap.
	Blue Tit (Dizzy) (Parus cæruleus) Length: 11.5cm Habitat: Deciduous woodland, parks, gardens, hedgerows. Voice: Song variations on 'see see chu-chu'. Makes squeaky chirps when feeding in flocks. Alarm call 'peep peep' plus a hard churr. Feeds: Bird table, hanging feeders. Eats: Peanuts, sunflower seeds, fat treats, pastry. Takes caterpillars, spiders and mealworms in the breeding season. Breeding: Will use a 26mm hole nestbox. Brood of up 14 eggs. Usually only one brood per season. Notes: Very acrobatic, can cling onto the thinnest branches. Raises its blue crown when upset and scolds harshly. Often found in the company of other small birds outside the breeding season. Juvenile plumage is similar, but face is yellow and crown is slate grey rather than blue. Female plumage is duller than males, though not always obvious. This bird was awarded the 'Bird Brain of Britain' award some time back in the 80s, and the Tom Tit (as it is also called) was the first species to start pecking milk bottle tops in winter.
	Brambling (Fringilla montfringilla) Length: 14cm Habitat: Gardens, parks, farmland and sewage works. Voice: Call is heard in flight and when perching and is a rising 'chway'. Feeds: Ground, sometimes table. Eats: Sunflower seeds and hearts, insects, Breeding: Does not breed in Britain and Ireland. Notes: Male is often confused with the Chaffinch. The brambling is a winter visitor only, migrating here from September onwards from northern Europe. Regularly visits feeding stations. Returns home from around March.
	Carrion Crow/Hooded Crow (Corvus corone) Length: 45-47cm Habitat: Cities, farmland, pasture, moors, woodland, parks, gardens, hills, cliffs. Voice: Loud rasping 'caa caa'. Plus hollower 'cuh cuh'. Feeds: Ground, bird table. Eats: Carrion, injured small animals and birds, grain, fruit, seeds, shellfish, kitchen scraps. Will steal eggs and nestlings of other birds. Digs for worms and other invertebrates. Breeding: Both sexes build the nest in trees, or sometimes on buildings or cliff ledges. 2-7 eggs. Notes: Two distinct races. All-black carrion crow in England, Wales and southern and eastern Scotland. Hooded crow has grey tummy and nape and is found in northern Scotland and Ireland.
	Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) Length: 14-15cm Habitat: Woodland, scrub, hedges, parks, gardens. Voice: Call note is a loud 'pink pink'. Song is short, a series of trills that ends with a well-defined flourish. Feeds: Ground-feeder. Particularly on lawns. Eats: Sunflower seeds, crushed peanuts, insects and other invertebrates. Breeding: Female builds elaborate nest. 3-4 eggs per brood, with up to two broods per season. Notes: Single-sex flocks often form in winter and roam the countryside. Male is pinkish red with grey-blue crown, which are duller in winter. Female is buff brown. Both have the same, very distinct, wing markings.
	Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) Length: 10-11cm Habitat: Woods, copses, deciduous woodland, parks, gardens. Voice: Call note is a loud 'hu-eet'. Song is monotonous repeated 'chiff chaff'. Feeds: Bird table, ground. Eats: Invertebrates, usually flying insects, aphids, and moth catterpillars. Unlikely to eat seeds or berries. May take insectivorous mixes/treats. Breeding: Starts breeding late April/early May. 4-7 eggs. Usually two broods in southern Britain. Notes: Once only visited Britain in the breeding season, but we now have a small overwintering population too (up to 1,000 birds). Can be separated from the Willow Warbler by its call and its restless habit, often flicking its tail while feeding.
	Coal Tit (Parus ater) Length: 11.5cm Habitat: Chiefly conifer woods. May visit gardens outside the breeding season. Voice: Call note is 'see see'. Song variations on 'pitchu pitchu', softer than the song of the great tit. Feeds: Table, hanging feeder. Eats: Insect larvae, esp. caterpillars, invertebrates, esp. spiders, beech mast, sunflower seeds, peanuts, fat treats. Breeding: May use a 26mm hole nestbox. Female constructs nest. Approx. 10 eggs, up to two broods per season. Notes: Not to be confused with the great tit. Smaller size, brown tummy, plus double wing bars. White patch on nape is more distinct than that seen on great tit, plus no tummy stripe. Will often cache food away amongst branches, later rediscovering by chance.
	Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) Length: 31-33cm Habitat:Farms, gardens, parks. Voice:Cooing. Feeds: Ground, table. Eats: Grain, including wheat, barley and corn. Seeds, berries, occasionaly aphids and caterpillars. Breeding:Builds a flimsy nest with 2 eggs per brood and usually 3 broods per year. The yuong (squabs) are fed on a crop milk known as 'pigeon milk'. Notes: A very successful species. Absent in Britain before the 1950s, it spread from Asia to Europe and colonised Britian and Ireland.
	Dunnock (Prunella modularis) Length: 14-15cm Habitat: Gardens, parks, scrub, hedges, woodland. Voice: High pitch 'seep'. Song is a fast warble. Males often copy the song of other Dunnocks. Feeds: Ground, sometimes table. Eats: Invertebrates, including beetles, worms and spiders. Also takes grain, berries, sunflower hearts, crushed peanuts, nyjer, dried fruit, pinhead oatmeal. Breeding: Unusual pairing. Sometimes a female will have two males, or a male two females, or multiple males sharing multiple females. Female builds nest. 4-6 eggs per brood, with up to three broods a year. Notes: A shy species who usually feeds under cover of dense shrubs and hedging.
	Feral Pigeon (Columba livia) Length: 33-34cm Habitat: Towns, cities. Closely associated with humans. Voice: Familiar cooing made during courtship displays. Feeds: Ground, table. Eats: Pretty much anything, though partial to grain and fat treats. Breeding: Use cavities in buildings. 2 eggs per brood, with perhaps several broods a year. Young 'squabs' are fed on pigeon milk. Notes: Feral pigeons are the descendants of domesticated rock doves. Numerous plumage varieties. Can be very friendly and form mild attachments to people. My local feral population will sometimes peck on my window demanding to be fed!
	Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) Length: 13cm Habitat: Gardens, parks, orchards, woodland edge. Voice: Song is light, variations on 'wit-a-wit' plus twitters and nasal notes. Feeds: Ground, table, hanging feeders. Eats: Seeds of thistle, groundsel and teasel. Will also take nyjer from nyjer feeders, plus sunflower seeds and hearts, peanuts and invertebreates, especially in the breeding season. Breeding: Female builds nest. 4-6 eggs per brood, with up to three broods per year, though most pairs have two. Notes: The collective term is a 'charm of goldfinches'. Some of our breeding birds winter in France and Spain.
	Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major) Length: 22-23cm Habitat: Woodlands, parks, large gardens. Voice: 'Kik kik'. Drums with its beak on trees as its 'song', in short bursts. Feeds: Table, hanging feeder. Eats: Insects, sunflower seeds, peanuts, fat treats. Will peck out holes in nestboxes of other birds to reach the eggs and young which it then devours. Breeding: Creates a cavity in a tree trunk. 5-6 eggs per brood and young are cared for by both parents. Notes: Female lacks red on nape. Juveniles have all red crowns.
	Great Tit (Tubbie) (Parus major) Length: 14cm Habitat: Voice: Metallic call note 'choonk choonk'. 'Peep peep' plus churring, similar to blue tit, plus squeaky chirping when feeding in pairs or flocks. Song variations on 'teechew teechew' plus call note. Feeds: Table, hanging feeder, sometimes ground. Eats: Peanuts, sunflower seeds and hearts, fat treats, will sometimes take nyjer. Breeding: Notes:
	Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris) Length: 15cm Habitat: Woodland, plantations, gardens, parks, hedgerows. Voice: Call is a dry 'jup jup'. Song is various twittering trills. Feeds: Ground, table, feeder. Eats: Seeds including groundsel and dandelion. Takes insects in the breeding season, and will take peanuts, sunflower seeds and hearts, and nyjer seed. Breeding: Female builds nest. 4-6 eggs per brood. 2-3 brood per season. Notes: Male is brighter with a more bright yellow appearance. Photo shows female.
(Photo: Malene)	House Martin (Delichon urbica) Length: 12.5cm Habitat: City suburbs, town, villages, sometimes cliffs. Voice: A dry 'chirrip chirrip'. Song is a soft twittering. Feeds: Aerial feeder. Eats: Takes insects caught in flight. Breeding: Builds nest out of mud under the eaves of buildings. Colony nester - many nests may be found next to each other, and special artificial nests may be used. 3-5 eggs per brood, 2-3 brood per season. Are sometimes evicted from their nests by house sparrows. Notes:
	House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) Length: 14-15cm Habitat: Closely associated with humans. Found on farmland, cities, parks gardens. Voice: Familiar chirping. Song is monotonous chirps. Feeds: Ground, table, feeder. Eats: Opportunist feeder. Will take invertebrates in the breeding season for young. Adults eat grain, peanuts, kitchen scraps, fat treats, seeds. Breeding: Pairs stay together throughout the year. 4 eggs per brood, with 2-3 broods per year, and may breed at any time of the year. Will use nestboxes. Special sparrow terraces are made for these colony nesting birds, but have had mixed success. Notes: Rapidly declining and every help should be given to this entertaining species. Will sometimes attack yellow flowers for no apparent reason, plucks feathers from live pigeons for nest-building, and engages in aerial chases of other species, especially pigeons(!).
	Long Tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) Length: 14cm Habitat: Edge of deciduous woodland, scrub, hedgerows, parks. Voice: High pitched 'see see', plus a 'thrup'. Feeds: Table, feeder. Eats: Invertebrates, including larvae and pupae of moths and butterflies, sunflower hearts, fat treats, peanuts. Breeding: Builds an elaborate, well hidden, domed nest from moss and cobwebs and covered in lichen. 8-12 eggs per brood, with up to 2 broods per season. Young from first brood, (and those pairs who have failed to rear a brood) will often help to rear subsequent broods. Notes: Tail is longer than its rounded body, giving it the appearance of a little ball of fluff. A very sociable species, and if you these birds are present in your area, you will see a flock of them suddenly gather on your feeders and then just as quickly disappear after eating their fill. The photo shows the continental race. British and Irish Long-tailed Tits have black stripes over their eyes running to the wings.
	Magpie (Pica pica) Length: 44-46cm Habitat: Farmland, parks, gardens, towns and cities. Voice: A harsh 'chak chak', plus almost dog-like yelping. Feeds: Ground, table. Eats: Almost anything, from dog faeces to bread. Will also plunder nests of other birds, eating the chicks and eggs. Breeding: Constructs a nest made from twigs and moss, usually high up in a tree. 3-9 eggs per brood. Notes: Very fond of hoarding shiny objects, or so they say. It took over 2 months for them to take the tinsel I left out for them, though they'd seen it many times.
	Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) Length: 14cm Habitat: Deciduous woodland, parks. Will visit gardens with trees. Voice: 'Tuit tuit' or 'pee pee pee'. Song consists of ascending and descending whistling. Feeds: Table, feeder. Seeks insects in the crevices of bark. Eats: Invertebrates, hazelnuts, peanuts, sunflower seeds and hearts, fat treats. Will sometimes cache food. Breeding: Hole nester. Will use nestboxes, plastering the entrance hole with mud until it is just the right size. 6-8 eggs per brood, with up to 2 broods per year. Notes: The only European bird that can climb head-first down trees.
	Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba) Length: 18cm Habitat: Usually near water. Also open country, farms, moors. Will visit gardens, especially if there is a pond, and is often seen near puddles. Voice: 'Chizzik'. Song is a quiet twittering. Feeds: Ground, aerial feeder. Eats: Insects, especially midges and mosquitoes. Breeding:Starts April. Will use an open-fronted nestbox. 3-8 eggs per brood, with up to 2 broods a year. Notes: Two races. Pied wagtail is resident in Britain and Ireland. White wagtail is the continental race, and has a grey back all year. The male pied wagtail's back is black, and the female's a darker grey than the white wagtail.
	Robin (Erithacus rubecula) Length: 14cm Habitat: Woodland, hedges, parks, gardens. Voice: An urgent 'tic tic'. Song is a clear melodic warbling, which takes two distinct forms. In autumn the song is slow and rather sad, and nearing spring it picks up speed and sounds happier. Feeds: Ground, table, hanging seed feeder. Eats: Invertebrates (particularly fond of mealworms), cheese, berries, fat treats, sunflower hearts, crushed or chopped peanuts, raisins and sultanas (my robin struggles with whole dried fruit, so I chop them into little pieces first). Breeding: Female constructs the nest, and will readily adopt an open-fronted nestbox. 4-6 eggs per brood, with 2-3 broods per season. May also build nest in sheds, large pockets or even an old kettle! First clutch of eggs is usually in April. Notes: A fiercely territorial bird, which is why you usually only ever see one robin in your garden. Males will fight to the death if anyone tries to take over their territory. If you want to attract your local robin into your garden, try loudly playing a sound file of a robin singing a couple of times. This should bring your robin to your garden, ready to bully the intruder off its turf! And that 'Nightingale' you hear singing in your front garden at night is in fact your robin, and not a nightingale at all (which are rare and only visit in summer, restricted to southern England only). Immigrants from the continent will start wintering here from about September, and can be recognised by their more orangey chest.
	Siskin (Carduelis spinus) Length: 12cm Habitat: Conifer woods, plantations, woodland edge. Will visit gardens near these areas. Voice: 'Soo' or 'zing'. Song is twittering. Feeds: Table, hanging feeder. Eats: Insects, thistle seeds, sunflower seeds, peanuts. Breeding: Female builds cup-shaped nest. 3-5 eggs per brood, incubated by female. Usually 2 broods a year. Notes: Female is duller than the male and has a streaked tummy.
(Photo: Paul)	Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) Length: 21-22cm Habitat: Likes any kind of open grassland: parks, gardens, football pitches, farmland. Voice: Various noises - is an excellent mimic. Ranges from the quacking of ducks and whistling noises, to mobile ringtones and what sounds remarkably like human laughter. Natural call is a descending 'chirr' and song consists of chattering noises and whistles. Feeds: Ground, table, hanging feeder. Eats: Invertebrates, chopped apples and pears, dried fruit, fat treats, sunflower seeds, peanuts, kitchen scraps. Breeding: Hole nester, and special starling nestboxes are available. 4-6 eggs per brood, incubated by both parents. Pairs may change mates between broods. Up to 2 broods per year. Notes: Red listed. To many, this gregarious species, that often hang around together in large groups, is a pest at bird feeding stations. Try not to begrudge it food as its population has declined sharply - leftover bread, bruised/slightly off fruit and other kitchen scraps is enough and will be readily taken. They are also very entertaining to watch in their noisy chattering groups - especially when they give the larger birds a hard time. The picture shows a starling in winter plumage. In summer, the speckly appearance gives way to a stunning purple-green sheen and legs become pink and bill yellow. Juveniles are plain buff brown, but still have the same shape.
(Photo: Free Picture Graphic)	Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) Length: 40-42cm Habitat: Woodland, farms, countryside, parks, gardens. Voice: A soft, melodic 5 syllable coo. Feeds: Ground, table. Will sometimes attempt to use hanging feeders if they are sturdy enough. Eats: Grain, seeds, kitchen scraps. Breeding: Nest is flimsy and constructed of twigs. Usually breeds between July and September, though it may breed at any time of the year. 2 eggs per brood, with 2-3 broods per year. Young are fed on 'pigeon milk'. Notes: Usually a shy and unapproachable species. May be seen in the company of feral pigeons, even in cities. Juveniles lack the white neck band and have slightly paler tummies.

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