Garden bird identification
Part 2 - some larger birds
Continuing on from Part 1 of our visual guide to some of the common garden birds you might see in Limpley Stoke and Freshford, here are some of the larger birds.
Blackbird – most people know these lovely birds. About 24-25cm and all black (male) or dark brown (female).
Song thrush – a little smaller than blackbirds – at 23cm. With a brown back and speckled front.
Starling – sadly declining rapidly in numbers, there are still some around our valley. 21cm long, with iridescent black feathers.
Magpie – related to crows, a bigger bird, around 44-46cm, with black and white markings and a dark blue/green tail.
Jay – another corvid (related to crows), with the same heavy beak, but smaller (34-35cm) and more colourful than magpies with pinky/buff front and back, black and white tail with speckled blue.
Woodpigeon – much under-rated, woodpigeons have a lovely mellow coo. Around 40-42cm, with dark grey back, and lighter, pinky-grey fronts and white patch on neck. Did you know pigeons look fat breasted, but it’s all muscle. They need it for their fast and powerful vertical take off!
Photo credits
Blackbird: Stuutje1979, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
Song Thrush: Brian Robert Marshall / Song thrush near Faringdon Folly.
Starling: Photo © Walter Baxter (cc-by-sa/2.0).
Jay: I, Luc Viatour, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons.
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