The ten pink “Barbie birds” you could see in the UK

First up, striking a pink pose to die for is the male Bullfinch. This is a bird with Hollywood looks, his chest and cheeks almost glow with a pinkish red, brilliantly contrasting against their black cap and tail.  

You can spot them in woodlands, orchards and hedgerows throughout the UK and they sometimes show up in gardens too. But despite their stella looks, Bullfinches are shy birds which are easily spooked and often avoid the limelight. It’s “pew pew” call is often the easiest way to know they’re in your neck of the woods. 

The Linnet is a joyful songster, and master of melodic cheerful tunes. Perfect if you fancy a break from Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s Barbie World. But all importantly the male also has a pinkish-red forehead and chest, which just about gets them past the VIP Pink Party bouncers.  

The slim-line finch has seen numbers drop substantially in the past few decades. But they can still be found in most areas of the UK on commons, heathland, farmland hedges and some parks and gardens.  

Bringing the flavour to the party is the Long-tailed Tit -  a raspberry ripple lollipop in bird form. It goes for a subtle pink flourish to its black and white get up and is often seen in excitable groups nosily flitting between bushes and feeders in gardens. 

They’re found across the UK except the far north and west of Scotland and in winter form large flocks with other tit species. 

Probably top of the pink pecking order in the UK is the Common Rosefinch – but this is a bird which rarely graces us with its pink presence. Only a handful show up every year with the mostly likely place to see them being on the Northern Isles, the coasts of eastern Scotland and south-east England, especially in spring and autumn. If you are lucky enough to see them it’s the male of sparrow-sized finch which comes in a blaze of pink - their bright head, chest and behind making them stand out from the crowd.   

Okay, they’re mainly brown. But Pink-footed Geese are the only UK bird with Pink in their name, so these guys make the list. Plus, look at those feet? Even Barbie herself would be jealous of their fabulously pink footwear. And they can put their heels on the ground.

Pink-footed Geese are a winter visitor to the UK, arriving from their Arctic breeding grounds from September onwards. The best place to see the medium-sized goose are large estuaries or surrounding farmland during the day where they go to feed.  

One of our rarest birds, the Roseate Tern is mainly white for most of the year. But in summer, when they come to the UK to breed, their underparts turn a delicate shade of pink, which gives them their name. The Barbie Tern was too risky for copyright reasons.

These guys stick to the coast, where they raise their young on freshly caught fish. The best place to see them is the Northumberland coast, Anglesey and the Firth of Forth.  

Every now and again Rosy Starlings turn up in the UK in perfectly pink flocks. These look pretty much like our regular Starlings, except they’ve donned feathery pink tank tops to match their pink legs and beaks.  

They’re usually found in Eastern Europe and Asia, and, we suspect, Barbie World. But occasionally, like last year, they make a visit to Western Europe and the UK. It’s not known for certain why, though a popular theory is that warmer springs allow their preferred food source, insects, to travel further west. 

Making an appearance on the reddy side of pink are three fabulous fashionistas, the Crossbill, Scottish Crossbill and Parrot Crossbill (pictured). All can be seen in the UK, but with varying degrees of difficulty. They get their name from their chunky powerful bills which are crossed at the tips to help them take seeds from conifer cones.  

The Crossbill is the most common but still difficult to see. This is a chunky finch, mainly red in colour but flecked with oranges and pinks. It has a large head, so not one to sit behind at the cinema. They’re most likely to be spotted in large family groups or flocks feeding acrobatically in the treetops.

Numbers vary from year to year but some of the best places to see them are the Scottish Highlands, the North Norfolk coast, the New Forest and the Forest of Dean.  

The Scottish Crossbill looks very similar to the Crossbill, but is the UK’s only endemic bird, meaning it is found nowhere else on the planet. You can spot it in the Scots pine forests of the Scottish Highlands.  

Last up, the Parrot Crossbill is also hard to tell apart from its UK Crossbill cousins, but it has a deeper call. There is a small breeding population in Scottish forests, but occasionally they breed elsewhere when numbers flock here from Europe.