Bullfinch Great tit The male bullfinch is a large colourful Bedgebury’s Birds The great tit is our largest tit. It is a black, finch, with a black head and a A beginner’s guide green and yellow bird. Both male and prominent pink chest, often seen in female have a chest/belly stripe but in the a pair with the duller female. Both Bedgebury Pinetum is home to a variety of resident and migrant male this is much thicker and easier to male and female have a white rump birds. A walk round the Pinetum and Forest is bound to turn up see. The young are much more yellow than and this can be quite visible when the a good selection of birds. All of the birds shown are residents the adults, lacking a black belly stripe and birds fly away from you. They are shy unless marked with an (M) and the season when you are most with a very dull black cap. From February birds, preferring to hide in shrubbery. likely to see them at Bedgebury. onwards, the male will start to sing. His Sometimes a soft slowly repeated ‘peu- song seems to say ‘tea-cher, tea-cher’. peu-peu’ may be the only indication This leaflet describes just some of the birds you may find here. A that they are present. bird book may be helpful for more information about these birds Coal tit and how to identify others. Smaller than a blue tit, the coal tit is a Chaffinch buff, brown and black bird with a white The chaffinch is a common resident cheek and a small white patch at the back at Bedgebury; the blue head and Water Birds of its head. Frequently found amongst pink underparts of the male are Mallard conifers, this is a common breeding bird at unmistakable. The females are much Mallard is the most common duck Bedgebury. In winter this bird will also join plainer and can easily be mistaken for you will see. It up-ends to feed, head in with roaming tit flocks. From February sparrows. Compared with sparrows underwater and tail upwards. This onwards, it will start to sing a fast high- they are slimmer, longer tailed and duck does not dive. The male has a pitched, two-syllable song resembling a have a plainer back with prominent green head and grey body and the squeaky bicycle pump. white wing-bars. female is brown. Both have a blue metallic flash on their wings. Young Marsh tit Goldfinch mallards are brown. Slightly bigger and much less common The goldfinch is a colourful small finch than a blue tit, the marsh tit is mainly with a small thin bill, red and white Tufted duck brown and buff with a dark ‘bib’ and face, and an obvious gold bar on the Tufted ducks are often seen on the shiny black cap. It does not have the white wings. A twittering call can alert you lake outside the Visitor Centre. They patch at the back of the head like a coal to the presence of this bird which, in dive to find food. The male is a very tit. The marsh tit is often seen in the lower winter, is often seen in flocks. In spring smart black and white duck while the branches of trees rather than high in the and early summer the male will often female and young are brown. Both canopy. Sometimes a distinctive ‘pit-chu’ sing from an exposed perch. male and female have a crest at the call will help you find this bird. back of the head, longer on the male than the female. Whilst this bird is a Long-tailed tit Brambling resident, during the winter numbers are Roaming flocks of this lovely little bird (M) Autumn/Winter increased by migrants who may have are a delight to see as they flit from tree Closely related and similar to the come from as far away as Russia. to tree trailing a tail that is longer than chaffinch, the brambling visits us in their body. They communicate constantly winter. This attractive finch has orange Moorhen with a variety of buzzing, squeaking and tones on its chest and largely white With a dark slate-blue and brown body, ‘prrrt-prrrt’ calls. By late January or early underparts. It is not pink, like the long green legs and red bill with a February, the flocks are breaking up as the chaffinch. The most prominent feature, yellow tip, the moorhen is not a duck. birds pair off to breed. usually seen in flight, is its white rump. It is a type of rail and does not have It is mainly found in flocks. This bird webbed feet. Although the bird can be Goldcrest often favours a roosting area behind seen swimming on water, bobbing its Our smallest bird and common all year the Visitor Centre. head as it swims, it is often seen walking round, the goldcrest is a tiny dumpy bird around on the grass or by the edge of with dark eyes in a plain face. Both males Siskin water. Youngsters are much browner and females have crests; the male has an Although a resident bird, the siskin is than the adults with a dirty white chin, orange crest and the female’s is yellow. easier to see in the winter since numbers dull red bill and white under-tail. They are usually found in conifers and are increased by migrant birds from sometimes high piping calls will alert you northern Europe. In winter this small Coot to their presence. In winter they will often lively, streaky yellow finch is often seen The coot has an all dark body and a join roving tit flocks so if you find a flock of in flocks, sometimes mixed with other white face and bill. It is not a duck and tits, you may well find goldcrest also. finches. The male has a small black cap does not have webbed feet. Spending and bib. The female is mainly streaked. much of its time on water, the coot will Firecrest Siskins are very agile often hanging do a little jump before diving to find The firecrest is similar to the goldcrest, but upside down to feed, enjoying alder and food. The young are mainly brown-grey is much rarer. Its white eye-stripe is very birch seeds. They call to each other with a with a white chin and pale bill. distinctive and gives the bird an angry variety of twittering calls. expression. The bronze patch on each shoulder and its green back can also Willow warbler Little grebe be quite noticeable. Although resident, (M) Spring/Summer This lovely little water bird with its numbers increase in the winter when birds The beautiful descending song of the powderpuff rear end is not a duck. arrive from the continent. It may join roving willow warbler is becoming much less It dives under the water with a little tit flocks. The firecrest often remains fairly frequent in the South East, however leap to catch small fish and then bobs low in the undergrowth and can sometimes Bedgebury is still an excellent place to back up like a cork. Generally, this be located by its repeated high-pitched call. hear and see this small active greenish bird prefers to stay close to vegetation warbler. It is very fond of birch trees around the edges of a lake. Little grebe Wren and next to the Visitor Centre lake is a will sometimes carry their young on This tiny brown bird with a cocked tail is good place to hear them during April their backs. common at Bedgebury wherever there and May. is undergrowth. Sometimes it will perch Small Birds openly, but more often all you will see is a Chiffchaff tiny bird with very short wings flying from (M) Spring/Summer Robin one area of undergrowth to another. Common and very similar to the The robin is a common breeding bird willow warbler in looks, the chiffchaff at Bedgebury and can easily be seen is another small greenish warbler. The throughout the year. The adults are song is the main feature separating very obvious with their red chests. Nuthatch these two species. The chiffchaff sings Youngsters, however, are brown and The only British bird that can climb down a a loud repetitive ‘chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff’. speckled. Although common all year, tree as well as going up, the nuthatch is a they are easier to see in the winter fairly common resident at Bedgebury. This as numbers increase due to migrant short-tailed bird has a blue back, black Blackcap birds arriving here to escape the cold in eye-stripe and white chin. A tapping noise (M) Spring/Summer northern Europe. or piercing call can give away the presence This bird, sometimes known as the of the bird. northern nightingale, sings a wonderful Dunnock flutey song from shrubberies or low Once known as the hedge sparrow, this trees. A common bird throughout unobtrusive bird is fairly common at Treecreeper spring and summer, the male has a Bedgebury, often seen near the ground The treecreeper is often seen creeping black cap and the female and young a in, or close to, undergrowth. Seen close up tree trunks and branches like a little brown cap. up, the greyish head and well-marked mouse. It sometimes makes high-pitched back makes this little brown bird quite calls like a squeaky tap. This bird has a House martin attractive. habit of flying low down onto a tree trunk, (M) Spring/Summer climbing up and then flying low down on to Frequently seen soaring in the skies the next trunk. above Bedgebury the house martin Blue tit catches insects in flight. A slightly This small blue and yellow tit is a forked tail, white underparts and dark common breeding bird at Bedgebury. Pied wagtail upperparts except for a pure white During spring and early summer, the A small black and white bird with a long, rump (low back) help to differentiate birds are seen mainly in pairs or with constantly wagging tail is most likely a pied this bird from the swallow. young. During June, adults can be wagtail. In winter they can often be seen seen feeding fluffy begging yellow close to the Visitor Centre, but can turn up Swallow youngsters. In winter it roams around almost anywhere, usually on or near the (M) Spring/Summer the Pinetum searching for food and is ground, and occasionally in flocks. A familiar bird of summer, the swallow often seen in mixed flocks with other has all dark upperparts, white tits. This bird is very acrobatic and underparts apart from the dark head will often hang onto small branches and a strongly forked tail with thin whilst feeding. streamers. Specialising in catching insects on the wing, swallows can often be seen flying low over water. Medium-sized Birds Great spotted woodpecker Fieldfare This large black and white woodpecker, (M) Winter Blackbird with conspicuous white patches on its This colourful thrush, a little bigger than The blackbird is common all year, but back, is common at Bedgebury, particularly a blackbird, with a grey head and rump, numbers increase in winter as birds amongst broadleaved trees. In early is another winter visitor from northern escape the cold in northern Europe. spring, males will ‘drum’ on trees to claim Europe. They are often seen in flocks, Males are black, often with a yellow territories. This sounds like a large hammer sometimes with redwing, and call with bill, however young birds or migrants hitting a tree hard, reverberating and then a ‘schack-schack-schack’ sound. When from the continent can have black tailing off. The male has a small red patch flying they take several strong wing bills. Females are brown and some, at the back of his head, the female an beats before closing their wings briefly particularly continental birds, can have all-black head, and the young, when they and then flapping again. A favourite a pale ‘speckly’ throat and upper chest. fledge, have a red cap. The great spotted perch can be at the top of trees. Young blackbirds are initially very woodpecker often calls with a loud ‘chip’ speckled, resembling thrushes, and whilst clinging to a branch. Larger Birds can often be seen being fed by their parents. The black male and brown Green woodpecker Buzzard female will often raise several broods Although a woodpecker, you are more This large brown bird of prey is each year. likely to see the green woodpecker hunting often seen soaring in the skies over on the ground for ants. When disturbed it Bedgebury on long, broad rounded Song thrush will fly off with a flash of green and yellow wings which may be held in a very A small slim thrush with a rufous brown and often calls with a ‘yaffle’ which sounds shallow V as the bird slowly glides by. back and pale underparts showing a little like a sharp laugh. Males have a red A loud mewing call can alert you to the arrow-shaped markings, the song centre to their moustache but in females presence of this majestic bird. thrush is often seen perched on a the moustache is solid black. tree branch or on the ground near to vegetation. The male will start to sing Hawfinch Kestrel his repeating song early in the New (M) Winter The kestrel is the only British bird of prey Year. Usually this bird is seen singly The hawfinch is a very large, colourful finch that habitually hovers. This bird mainly or in pairs, unlike redwing, which are with a massive bill. Mainly a winter visitor eats small rodents and you may see generally in flocks. Song thrushes can to Bedgebury, the easiest time to see these it suddenly drop down to the ground have several broods each year and shy and special birds is as they come in to onto prey. Being a falcon, the wings are may be seen feeding speckled young roost in tall conifers. Before entering their pointed and in good light the chestnut throughout the spring and summer. roost, this species will often sit for a period back and thick black band at the end of of time at the very top of tall trees. the tail may be visible. Mistle thrush Larger, longer-tailed and rather pot- Redwing Wood pigeon bellied when compared with a song (M) Winter A very common, bulky pigeon, with a thrush, this bird is also a colder grey- A winter visitor to Britain from northern white mark on the neck and obvious brown above and has spots on the chest Europe, the redwing usually arrives in white wing bars in flight. The song has and belly. The mistle thrush is usually October and November and departs in five syllables, ‘coo-coo-cuuu-coo-cu’. seen singly or in pairs and is more likely April. This is a small thrush with a white to be seen in open grassy areas. Early eye-stripe, and as the name suggests, has in the New Year, this bird will sing its a red underwing. The red is usually just mournful song from a tree top. about visible under the wings when they are closed. Often seen in flocks, sometimes with fieldfare, they will move around looking Collared dove for food. Initially this is berries, but when the Smaller and browner than the berries run out they look for invertebrates on woodpigeon, the collared dove has a the ground. narrow black band on the neck. This bird is often seen in pairs. The song has three syllables and can sound like the bird is repeating ‘u-nite-ed, u-nite-ed’.

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fauna with our members and visitors to the site. the to visitors and members our with fauna to share the wonders of the Pinetum and its extraordinary flora and and flora extraordinary its and Pinetum the of wonders the share to Christine George –2018 George Christine [email protected] email: by us with sightings bird interesting any of details share Please high quality, healthy recreation. for site as a and fauna, and flora endangered and rare of landscape a as education, and conservation research, conifer of centre aworld-class as Bedgebury of management its in Commission Forestry the We support Pinetum. the particular, in and, trees with people engage to intend grants These site. the across activities and projects for grants as Commission Forestry the to available them makes and gifts and donations subscriptions, membership your takes Pinetum Bedgebury of Friends the acharity, As This leaflet has been created by the Friends of Bedgebury Pinetum

Bedgebury’s birds