A to Z of a Wildlife Garden

Home > Birds and wildlife > A to Z of a Wildlife Garden > Animals

Animals

Aphid

There are over 500 aphid species in the UK, and several are common garden pests. Typically they have pear-shaped bodies and range in colour from black to pink, though most are green or brown. More...

Badger

Badgers are stocky, with short legs and silvery-grey fur. They have very distinctive black and white markings on their faces. More...

Black garden ant

Ants are social insects; they live in colonies that consist mainly of workers – sterile, wingless females. More...

Bumblebee

These large, hairy bees are generally black with varying degrees of yellow banding. Look closely at flowering plants and you’ll probably spot several species. More...

Cinnabar moth

Cinnabar moths can be found throughout Britain, except northern Scotland, and can be easily spotted because of its bright red and black colouration. More...

Click beetle

When threatened, attacked or overturned, these beetles can flick themselves into the air emitting an audible click – hence their name. More...

This familiar beetle has a black thorax, rusty brown elytra (wing cases) and brown legs. It has characteristic antennae that fan out, and are often seen on May evenings buzzing around the garden. More...

Common blue butterfly

Male common blues have pale violet-blue upper wings with grey-beige undersides. However, females vary from those with predominantly brown upper wings and orange crescents, usually more common in the south, to those with more blue, found farther north and west. More...

Common blue damselfly

Common blue damselflies are common throughout Britain. The male has a blue abdomen with black spots; the female, a yellow or bluish abdomen with variable dark markings. More...

Common frog

Common frogs are widespread in mainland Britain. They have smooth skin that varies in colour from grey, olive green and yellow to brown, which they are able to lighten or darken to match their surroundings. More...

Common newt

Common newts are olive green or pale brown with a bright orange, black spotted underside. In the breeding season males develop a wavy crest from their heads to their tails, and entice females by wafting a glandular secretion. More...

Common toad

Common toads have broad, squat bodies and warty skin, and tend to walk rather than hop. These toads are widespread and common in mainland Britain. More...

Cranefly

Also known as a daddy longlegs, this slender, long-legged fly is grey-brown with dark brown leading edges to its wings. More...

Devil's coach horse

The Devil’s coach horse is a long, black beetle with short elytra (wing cases), which at first glance you could mistake for an earwig. More...

Earthworm

Earthworms are made up of many ridged segments. They are covered in minute hairs, which allow them to grip the soil and move. They are vital in maintaining soil structure and fertility as they aerate the soil. More...

Earwig

Earwigs can be most easily recognised by the characteristic pincers at the hind end of their bodies. More...

Fox

The fox has reddish-brown fur, a white chest and a bushy, white-tipped tail, called a brush. Foxes are widespread and quite common throughout Britain, and a surprising number live in towns. More...

Froghopper (cuckoo spit)

Froghoppers are small, brown insects that can jump great distances if threatened. Their larvae are more commonly seen coated in a mass of froth – or cuckoo spit – on plant stems. More...

Garden snail

Widespread and common throughout the UK, garden snails have pale grey, moist skin and a large, brown or yellowish shell with paler flecking and darker, spiraling bands. More...

Garden spider

Although varying in colour from pale yellowy-brown to very dark brown, garden spiders all have a characteristic white cross-shaped group of spots on their abdomen, and spin orb webs to catch their prey. More...

Garden tiger moth

The garden tiger is a common, widespread species and can be found throughout the UK. It is a stout and hairy moth with chocolatey-brown forewings, and hindwings that are orangey-red with black spots. More...

Green shield bug

This flat, shield-shaped bug is bright green and stippled with tiny black dots in spring and summer, but changes to greeny-bronze in autumn. Green shield bugs are common throughout England and Wales, but less so in Scotland. More...

Grey squirrel

Originally from North America, grey squirrels were released in the UK by 19th century landowners, and are now very common and widespread. They can often be seen sitting upright with their large bushy tails arched over their backs. More...

Harvestman

Harvestmen are closely related to spiders. But, unlike the spiders, it has no silk glands so is not able to spin a web, does not have fangs nor does it produce venom. More...

Hedgehog

Hedgehogs have a rather rounded body covered in short, dark, yellow-tipped spines, and a short tail. They come out at night and can be heard snuffling and grunting as they forage for food. More...

Holly blue butterfly

Male holly blues have sky-blue upper wings with narrow, black borders, whereas females have broad, dull black borders. In both sexes the under wings are palest blue, almost white, with black spots. More...

Honey bee

Honey bees make honey from pollen and nectar collected from flowers. They live in large colonies with one queen, many sterile females workers and some male drones. In the wild honey bees nest in hollow trees. More...

Hornet

The largest of the British social wasps hornets appear very similar to common wasps, but are larger and coloured chestnut-brown (rather than black) and yellow. More...

House mouse

Apart from humans, this tiny rodent with greyish fur, large ears, a pointed snout and a long, scaly tail is probably the commonest mammal in the UK. More...

Hoverfly

Although these brightly-coloured insects look like bees or wasps, hoverflies are in fact true flies and do not sting. More...

Hummingbird hawk moth

The hummingbird hawk moth is hairy with a dark, white-spotted abdomen, mousey-grey forewings and golden-orange hindwings. Easily mistaken for a hummingbird as it hovers, probing flowers for nectar, it is in fact smaller than any hummingbird. More...

Lacewing

This carnivorous, aphid juice-sucking insect gets it name from its two semi-transparent pairs of wings, covered in a network of veins. More...

Ladybird

Named after the Virgin Mary, this brightly-coloured beetle is well known as the 'gardeners' friend', as it feasts on aphids. More...

Large red damselfly

The large red is the first damselfly to be seen in spring, and can be found on almost any habitat near water. More...

Large white butterfly

Common throughout Britain, large white butterflies have white wings with broad black tips on the forewings. Females also have two black spots and a black streak on each wing. Males have no spots on the upperside, but two black spots on the underside. More...

Animals

About the RSPB

Contact us

Latest news

Add your voice for nature

Free e-newsletter