Guest post by Philip Grant
1. Goldfinch eating sunflower seeds.
Next weekend (26 to 28 January) is the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, and a chance for us all to take part in the world’s largest garden wildlife survey. I’m lucky enough to live in a house with a garden, but you don’t need one to take part. You can watch, and count, on the balcony of a flat, or in a local park or other open space that birds visit. It just takes an hour of your time, plus a bit more reporting your results, and you can find out how on the Big Garden Birdwatch website.
2. Greenfinch and Goldfinches around a seed feeder.
You are likely to see more birds if you are able to provide them with some food during the winter. Some types of small birds seem to gather in small flocks at this time of year, and recently we’ve enjoyed having a mixed group of Goldfinches and Greenfinches coming to our feeders. Although we have a nest box each for Blue Tit and Great Tit pairs (at opposite ends of our back garden), they also sometimes come to the garden with Coal Tits and the beautiful little Long Tailed Tits (I’m sorry that I don’t have a photograph of these to share – they are rather shy!).
3. Great Tit eating seeds, with inset showing its front markings.
4. Blue Tit and Goldfinch near fat ball feeder.
5. Goldfinches waiting while a Starling feeds on fat balls.
A garden bird that isn’t shy is the Starling, and they will make smaller birds wait while they feed. Occasionally only a single Starling will arrive, but usually they appear in a posse – I think the most I’ve counted at one time during a birdwatch is seventeen. They may look black, but up close, their markings and colours are amazing, with greens, purples and lots of little white speckles across their breasts.
As you can see from some of the other photos, many small birds have some intricate and colourful markings too. That even goes for the Robin (only one pair in the garden, as they are very territorial!) and the occasional Sparrow that we see, usually on the ground under the feeders, picking up what other birds drop.
Although we had seen Ring-necked Parakeets flying around the area (particularly on Barn Hill) for a number of years, it was only in 2020 that the first one landed briefly on a tree in our garden. Now they are regular visitors, often arriving in pairs, and the most we have seen at one time is six. They seem ready to wait patiently for their turn, unless something scares them away first. Sunflower seeds are more popular, but some will also peck at the fat balls.
6. A pair of Parakeets feeding, while another waits.
7. A Ring-necked Parakeet on the fat ball feeder.
The Parakeets are very agile for their size. The Feral Pigeons and Wood Pigeons that visit our garden usually can’t get at the feeders, unless there is a conveniently located branch next to the fat balls. But when other garden birds are busy feeding, we often see pigeons on the grass underneath, eagerly making the most of the seeds or bits of fat ball that are dropped.
One Feral Pigeon, who like the others was too big to use the small bird perch on the seed feeder, was so keen to get at the food there that it tried to fly up from the ground and hover. Over a number of days, it gradually developed this “skill”, until it could spend a few seconds beside the feeding hole. I doubt whether the seeds it got were worth the energy used in getting them, but it was interesting to watch this “humming bird” pigeon!
8. The “humming bird” pigeon in action.
Our local Kingsbury Feral Pigeons usually spend their time, and get their food, in Kingsbury Road and Roe Green Park. However, one thing we do provide for the birds all year round is their other vital need, water. I think all the different types of birds that visit our garden have drunk from our water bowls, but that is not all they need them for. And when fresh water is put out, it is often Feral Pigeons who arrive to enjoy it first.
9. Feral Pigeons drinking and bathing in fresh water.
10. A Jay, with its crest up, enjoying a bath.
Jays are not the only less usual “garden birds” that we are lucky enough to see. We also have occasional visits from Green Woodpeckers and Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Water is especially important during dry periods, like those we often get during the summer, or when the ground is frozen. One of the first jobs in the morning, in weather such as we’ve had last week, is to put some extra water in the kettle, when making a cup of tea, so that there is some available to remove the ice from the top of the water in our bowls. Having water to drink, when none is available elsewhere, was probably why we had a rare visit from a Pied Wagtail, last time we had snow lying.
11. Pied Wagtail walking through the snow, after drinking some water.
I would not have thought of Crows as a garden bird, until one started visiting us five or six years ago. Within months, the male’s mate was also coming, and since then they have been a regular part of our garden bird life. Watching their behaviour has given us a fascinating insight into crow family life, and I will share a little of that with you.
12. Mr Crow having a bath.
Crows like to have a bath, sometimes coming back into the bowl several times and splashing about. On some summer days, Mr Crow gets so wet that he cannot take off, so hops down the garden and up into our apple tree to preen and dry off, before flying away. But drinking and bathing is not all that Crows use the water for.
They have a varied diet, including making use of dropped takeaways, and food found (from bins?) behind shops and restaurants. Crows can carry surprisingly large items in their beaks. Sometimes they bring food to wash if they don’t like something on it (such as peri-peri sauce on their chicken), or if they have buried it and then dug it up again. At other times, it is to soften up the food - bread, pizza, meat on bones and dog biscuits (stolen from a neighbour’s garden) are some examples.
13. Mr Crow with a chip that needs softening.
14. A Crow washing and breaking up a cooked chicken leg.
Softening food is particularly important when there are young to feed. Bread or meat needs to be broken up at the bowl, then swallowed into a pouch in their throats to carry back to the nest. The young Crows, usually two each year, are dependent on food provided to them for many months. When they do start flying, we often see them first in a nearby tree. It will be weeks before they are finally confident enough to come to the garden, still begging food from their parents.
For the rest of their first year, the young Crows are steadily educated (and disciplined, when necessary, to know their place in “the pecking order” over food). They must learn the skills of preparing food, bathing (watching their first attempts can be amusing), and what the various calls mean, and how to make them. Mr Crow is a very patient teacher.
Each year, one of the young Crows, it can be either a male or a female, is trained to be a helper. While the other one (or occasionally two) are made unwelcome by the end of their first year, the helper stays as part of the family, to assist Mr Crow in bringing food while Mrs Crow is on the nest, and in looking after the next year’s young Crows during their early months.
15. Mr and Mrs Crow having breakfast, January 2024.
Although the Crows can usually find their own food, and come to the garden mainly for the water, we do provide some for them during the winter. As Starlings would take the opportunity to gobble up any food, if the Crows were not quick enough to arrive, we’ve started putting it on a plastic plate, with a bowl over it. Mr Crow has the guile and strength to tip up the plate, so that the food is there on the grass for the family to eat.
16. A squirrel eating from the Crows’ plate.
While there are few garden birds who would dare steal the Crows’ food while they are there, a cheeky squirrel will sometimes have a go (the local squirrels visit all of our feeders!). While most of the family would not take on a squirrel, we’ve seen Mr Crow creep up behind one, and dash in to peck its tail! Our garden is certainly part of this Crow family’s territory, and they can often be seen and heard, cawing as a group from trees or rooftops to warn neighbouring crows away from it.
I hope this article has encouraged you to take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch, but more than that, to spend more time watching, and feeding if you can, the garden birds where you live. They can be a great source of natural beauty, interest and fun.
Philip Grant.
A copy of this article can be downloaded from HERE
If Philip's article has encouraged you to take part see the RSPB video below or visit the website HERE
