Ask an RSPB expert: your November questions answered

It's time to pull on your boots, crunch through fallen leaves and enjoy autumn's bounty. Berries glisten in hedgerows drawing in flocks of hungry birds, while fungi bursts forth in all manner of shapes and sizes. 

One of my favourite birds to see at this time of year is the Short-eared Owl. 

Although they are mainly nocturnal, Short-eared Owls are one of the most active UK owls during daylight. 

Short-eared Owls are a UK resident species, and they mainly breed in the uplands on moorland. However now is a great time to see them as more join us from Scandinavia, Russia and Iceland to escape the freezing conditions further north.   

During the winter they’re much more widespread, turning up in lowland areas and around the coast. They can be spotted hunting in fields, marshes and wetlands looking for small mammals, particularly voles. 

They have a palish face with distinct black patches around their piercing yellow eyes. They have a mottled brown-yellow plumage with a wingspan of 95-105cm. Unlike Long-eared Owls their tufts are not always visible. 

Their upper wings are mottled brown and have white trailing edges. Underwings are very pale with a black tip and black curved bar at the base of the flight feathers. Underparts are pale with dark heavy streaking on upper breast.  

While some places are bursting with fungi, they can be less common in other areas. Fungi can sometimes be tricky to spot but once you know where to look, there are lots around. 

Did you know the ‘Wood Wide Web’ refers to the underground network of certain fungi and plant/tree roots? 

This incredible system allows trees, plants and fungi to share, trade and exchange resources, and even communicate with each other. For example, a fungus attached to a plant through this network can receive carbon from the plant and in return the plant can get nutrients that it requires, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, and improved access to water.  

The fairytale Fly Agaric has symbiotic relationships with birch and pine trees, which is why they are mostly found near these species.  

To help tackle disease among garden birds, we advise not feeding seeds or peanuts between 1 May and 31 October. We also recommend cleaning and moving feeders weekly, changing water daily, and not using bird tables or other flat-surfaced feeders.     

This is because of a disease, trichomonosis, that has caused huge declines in Greenfinches and Chaffinches across the UK, and is negatively impacting other birds too. 

Trichomonosis is a disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trichomonas gallinae, which causes lesions in the gullet, preventing the ability to swallow food and water.

Studies have shown that finches are the species at highest risk of trichomonosis. They favour seeds and in the absence of seeds will divert to peanuts. The disease can be spread via regurgitated food and fresh saliva and through contaminated food or water. 

Trichomonosis does occur year-round, but the risk of an outbreak is lower during winter. There are also several benefits to feeding birds in the winter and into spring, particularly the March and April ‘hungry gap’ when many seed-eating birds struggle to find enough food. 

Because of this, we recommend feeding of seeds and peanuts from November to April when the benefits to birds are likely to be high (for example through enhanced survival during cold weather), natural seed is less readily available, and the prevalence of trichomonosis is likely to be lower.    

 You can find out more about how to help garden birds here. 

I am a wildlife enthusiast and keen bird ringer who is always learning something new and fascinating about our natural world. I enjoy encouraging others to help wildlife in whatever small way they can and I am often distracted and amused by my garden visitors, especially Woodpigeons.