Community Question: Name your 5 favourite British Birds

No robins so far?

Its tough and would probably change by the minute but -

Coal tit - as they're not the most common garden bird and are so small

they just cheer me up when I see them on my feeder.

Pied wagtail - always on the move and we have a winter roost just down the road

Sparrowhawk - just so agile

Blackbird - we just get loads in our garden

Goosander - even though I see them fairly frequently they still seem quite exotic to me, maybe cos most people don't know what they are

Cheers

Stoat

1. Long Tailed Tit - just soo cute
2. Goldfinches - just love to hear their chatter
3. Pied Wagtail - there is a cheeky little chap that spends the day in the play ground at work and he is fiesty
4. Kestrel - prettiest BOP IMHO
5. Blue tit - fist bird I could recognise as a child and started my interest in birds

Sarah

1. Robin - never tire of seeing or photographing them - a pair on my fence tonight

2. Wren - shy and difficult to see

3. Blue tit - common but always worth watching

4. Long tailed tit - so very cute - hadn't seen one until this year

5. Thrush - getting rarer but enjoy the odd ones I see

Dave

Merlin

Hen Harrier

Feldfare

Starling

Goldcrest

Like others it may change day to day,some days it is the bird I am looking at at the time.

There are several birds that I 'love from afar' - think they are brilliant but I don't really feel I 'know' them properly as I don't have enough first-hand experience of watching them. Into this category would go stuff like Long-tailed Duck, Dotterel, Storm Petrel, Crested Tit, Black-throated Diver, Red-necked Phalarope. So I'll pick five faves from the species that I do feel I know pretty well.

1. Black Redstart. The first scarceish bird I ever saw, and I'm still won over by their quirky looks and character.

2. Swift. They're always here just in time for my birthday. Fast, furious and fearless. Brilliant to watch, brilliantly challenging to photograph :)

3. Wigeon. My favourite dabbling duck. Extremely pretty with a really evocative call. Visits my patch in winter but never in big numbers so always special to see there.

4. Cetti's Warbler. This is a sort of love/hate thing, because they're so hard to see, but it's great when you do, and that fruity voice is like something from the tropics.

5. Herring Gull. I love these because I grew up with them, they had their own 'town' on the rooftops of my home town and as we lived in the tallest (and thinnest) house in town I got to watch their world from above, taught me so much.

ooh this is hard...

Like Aiki there are some that I dont see often like golden eagle, black throated diver etc that I adore but think I will put species I know well on my list.

In no particular order...

grey heron - they look so exotic and out of place but so elegant

magpie - stunning to look at and such characters

herring gull - for their attitude and handsome good looks

swift - their call stirs something deep inside me and their story is awe inspiring

common buzzard - so majestic and underrated and 9.999999999 times out of ten when I'm scanning for goldies I spot one or usually more :)

Every time I see one of the above it makes me happy. Although there are so many more I could add...

Hard one.

1) Marsh Harrier- they are amazing

2) Buzzard- great at soaring, saw my first 2 today!!

3) Dunnock- beautiful colours and pattern

4) Green woodpecker- lovely bright colours and amzing flight

5) Wren- so lively and small

I like soo many more, hard to choose really. lol.

Ooh eck, this is hard.

So many birds to choose from.Am going to pick my five from birds that I have seen or see regularly.

1. Robin. Friendly , got a song all year round.Lovely to hear on a dark dismal winter evening.If you're out in the garden you can bet he'll make an appearance to see what you're up to.

2. Barn Owl. So beautiful and graceful.

3. Blue tit. Just love their innescant chattering and their cute liitle face.

4. Blackbird. Another friendly bird .Love to hear them singing early in the morning and late evening during the breeding season.

5.Song thrush. Another bird I love to hear singing.Always reminds me that summer is not far away.

Viv.

What I decided is to pick 3 associated with great days out and 2 from my garden.

1. Redstart.  

On a great day out in the peak district.  The amazing thing about this was that I spotted it.  This is most unusual as I'm not normally the one who is good at this.  I had new binoculars.  Watched it for ages.

2. Nuthatch.

Very interesting to watch.  Observed it from a hide for a long time.

3. Osprey.

What a treat after a long walk during a fantastic holiday.  Thanks to the RSPB for setting up the 'scopes and for the camera feed from nest to screen.

4. Blue tit.

They love the feeder in my garden.

5. Great tit.

They love the feeder too.  I can't get 'photos, I can't get close enough without them retreating into the hedge.

Sparrows, blackbirds and robins are also good to see in my garden and rarely goldcrests.  I walk a lot and enjoy seeing chaffinches and goldfinches, seeing and hearing buzzards and ravens, watching kestrels hover, cormorants spread their wings on lake islands and herons along the canals.  Very rarely and always too briefly, a kingfisher.

Hi Folks

As others have said already my list is not set in stone and changes throughout the year but at them moment it stands as.

1 Goldfinch.    Managed to get them visiting the garden at last and are still coming.

2 Robin.         We have a new resident Robin who patrols the garden while everything else is feeding.

3 Marsh Harrier.  We keep getting tantasling views of them at Elmley and Capel Fleet but have yet to get good photos.

4 Sparrowhawk. As with the Marsh Harrier we have one that hunts from the garden and I have had a fleeting glimpse on one visit but yet again no photos.

5 Kingfisher. Got my first pictures this year thanks to GrahamC inviting me to Rye Meads.

Going to post this straight away before I change my mind again ;o)

Shane

It's difficult to name only 5, and mine might change too.

However, I'm restricting it to birds I've seen, and today I will go for:

Osprey

Red Kite

Kingfisher

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Bullfinch

Oh darn I've left Kestrel and Sparrowhawk out. I knew it would be hard!!!!!

It's a tough one! I have so many favourites, but I'll go for....

1) Robin - such character and wonderful to see on a winter's morning - one was always about last winter when I took the dog out - even in all the snow!

2) Crested Tit - wonderful wee birds - and I sit under a large photo of one at SHQ :-)

3) Buzzard - the BOP I see most often - beautiful birds.

4) Magpie - got to love a corvid!

5) Blackbird - fantastic garden bird - lovely song.

I will admit I will always have a soft spot for the pigeons! I blame the previous job where I had to rescue so many, and the youngsters were just a joy to feed in the wildlife centre!

Wow, thanks everyone for your comment so far, if you are still deliberating then take your time, it's a tough ask!

I've finally narrowed it down to 5 so here goes!

1. Swift - Guaranteed to get me gazing skywards every May on the look out for the first ones back!
2. Kestrel - Especially the juveniles that are great fun to watch as they hone their hunting skills.
3. Short-eared owl - I don't connect with this bird as often as I should but when I do it is well worth it, awesome looking birds
4. Robin - the hours spent digging don't seem as strenuous when these cheerful birds are hopping around your feet looking for worms and grubs that might be unearthed, great song as well!
5. Osprey - Gracefulness personified, a master angler and a real conservation success story.

Sincere apologies to the red kite, nuthatch, manx shearwater and jackdaw that were at one point or another in my top five!!!

Hi, this is a really difficult one but here goes

1. Long tailed tit - just love the look of them and their little faces!

2. Robin - always around in the garden and either singing or creating about something!

3. Goldfinch - just beautiful colours and love watching them on the feeders.

4.  Goldcrest - just so weeny, flitting about in the trees with the beautiful golden yellow stripe on its head.

5. Kestrel - just love to watch them hover and love trying to see whether female or male with bluey grey head.

Next would be Osprey, Barn Owl and Sparrowhawk! - but I can't fit them in - plus many, many more!  

osprey

gannet

barn owl

swallow

swan