Birds, common British species

Birds

Kingfisher.
Only 14 to 19cm long, dives into water to catch small fish.

Marsh Harrier female in flight.
Specialist reedbed hunter, 115 to 140cm wingspan.

Puffin, during the breeding season.
In winter they shed the brightly coloured outer layer of the bill,
leaving it smaller and dark. Puffin

Jay on a bird table.
This crow specialises in collecting acorns in autumn,
caching them for the winter. Jay

Mandarin drake.
This duck was imported from china,
after escaping from collections it now lives wild in the UK. Jay

About this site This site was created as a sample of my web design.
I have used HTML 5 and CSS 3.
There are other examples of my design at My website i

A simple guide to birds.

This site is intended to give a quick introduction to British birds. I've included hints on identifiying some common species.

The birds are grouped in families, which are closely related.

Bird families
Ducks	Finches	Waders

You can find out more about birds by following the links at the bottom of the page.

There are three sections describing each group of birds.

Bits: What to look for to tell different birds apart.
Types: Birds you might see.; There are pop up hints to tell them apart.
Feeding: Ways they find food.; Watch how birds behave, it's a clue to who's who.

Flight

Why fly

Flight gives birds great mobility...

to escape from ground predators
to travel quickly between nests, roosts and sources of food and water
to hunt flying animals
to migrate over large distances.

Types of flight

Clap & fling: The wings are brought together above the body and rapidly pulled apart, to suck air down.; This is used for a quick vertical takeoff by small and medium sized birds. As the bird lifts off clattering sounds can often be heard, dying away when the flight shifts to horizontal.
Undulation: Flapping quickly for short periods to gain height and speed, followed by folding the wings to reduce drag and dropping again.; This is typical of smaller birds.
Flap & glide: Similar to undulation, but the wings are spread when not flapping. This is often used by longer winged birds.
Flap & tuck: The wing is outstretched on the down stroke and tucked in on the upstroke. This pushes air down to create lift, the wing twists on the upstroke to create forward thrust.; Short winged birds tend to tuck the wing more.
Flapping: The wing is outstretched for lift, it twists slightly on each stroke, pushing air backwards for forward thrust.; Long winged birds tend to tuck the wing less.
Gliding: Not flapping, the bird uses forward airspeed over the wing to generate lift. With no forward propulsion, gliding will slow the bird unless it descends to maintain speed.
Soaring: Where winds or air temperature cause rising air, gliding birds may use this to gain height. This is an energy efficient way to fly and birds may be seen circling in rising air, gliding for long periods.
Hovering: Many small to medium birds may hover for short periods, this is usually very energy intensive and most birds can only hover for a short time.; Where winds are strong enough and rising, larger birds may hover by soaring into the wind.
Hummingbird: Holds it's body near vertical and twists the wing after each stroke to direct air downwards. This downward airflow supports the bird's weight and allows it to hover.
Diving: The wings may be swept back or partly folded in a dive. The bird gains speed by losing height and can reach the highest speed acheived by any animal.
Whiffling: Rolling onto the side or upside down is a quick way to lose height.; Waterfowl may wiffle to drop down steeply and land on water.
Jinking: Swerving rapidly and repeatedly is sometimes used to avoid predators.; Some birds also jink when displaying.