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Any garden bird enthusiasts help me ID a bird,please?

45 replies

crazynanna · 14/01/2013 21:37

Well, I have been decorating my kitchen these past few days, so obviously been gazing out of the window into the garden Wink, and I am noticing all kinds of lovely birds I have never,ever noticed before only know a pigeon. I have seen a woodpecker (looked it up), some tits on my blackberry bushes (looked it up), but there are a pair of birds I cannot find anywhere on any of the sites.



I will try and describe them.



Bigger than a robin/tit/etc...but smaller than a pigeon, maybe the same size as the woodpecker/magpie.



Brown body

Longtail (I think maybe white and a bit of black in the tail)

Bright colour bits on wings

Has a call with 2 sounds, not a song, more like a crow sound.



They are so beautiful, and seem to visit every day



Any ideas?



Oh and one more thing.

I have foxes in my garden, and yesterday evening, I heard squawking from over the fence next door, and the bloody fox balanced on the garden fence bending over. I banged the window, and it scarpered, and the noise stopped.



Do foxes kill birds? Sad



Thankyou for your help.

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iseenodust · 14/01/2013 21:43

Ideas but no expert
waxwing
goldfinch

You might get much better answers if you post in great outdoors.

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Porkster · 14/01/2013 21:44

Could it be a Jay?

We get loads on our garden, they love peanuts.

I don't think foxes get them.

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lovelyredwine · 14/01/2013 21:45

Could be a jay. They are lovely- bright blue bits on the wings. Is the body more a beige than a dark brown?

And yes, foxes can kill birds, but domestic cats tend to do more damage to the wild bird population (I have 2 cats and love them, but wish they would leave the birds alone!).

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SkaffenAmtiskaw · 14/01/2013 21:47

try the RSPB bird identifier and let us know what it is if you find out!
:)

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crazynanna · 14/01/2013 21:52

ooh that Jay looks like it...and yes more light brown body. But that birdie in the pic looks smaller,they are quite big in my garden. But yes..it does look really similar. I am in the middle of North London...who knew all this wildlife? Smile

I thought about a cat killing the bird, but the fox was so close by literally leaning down...wouldn't a cat just leg it and not be so near a fox?

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Virgil · 14/01/2013 21:56

Jays are quite big. We get loads in the garden and it was my first thought in reading your description.

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hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 14/01/2013 21:56

I'd have said Jay before I read your update.

And no, I watched a cat beat seven bells out of a fair sized Collie the other day. It was definitely Cat 1-Collie 0.

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coffeeinbed · 14/01/2013 21:58

jay.
they are big.
and nasty - i've seen them steal baby tits from nests.

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Porkster · 14/01/2013 22:00

Yes, Jays are quite big.

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coffeeinbed · 14/01/2013 22:00

they belong to the magpie family, so no surprise you thought of magpies when you saw them.

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Startail · 14/01/2013 22:08

Do you have any reasonable sized trees, especially oaks near by?
Jays love acorns and tend to be found near woods or gardens with mature trees, rather than open fields.white arse very obvious as it flies away

If it gets colder you may get redwings and fieldfares, flocks of which come down from the north in cold spells.

similar size, not as pretty.

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crazynanna · 14/01/2013 22:13

ooh they look too beautiful to be nasty! But the call was quite loud and aggressive...and come to think of it, when they are there, I don't think I see any other birds around. Isn't it amazing what you see when you actually look? My garden is a bit of a jungle and has been since I moved in (funds are lacking to fix it atm), so I never really venture out there, but being in the kitchen has made me see it in a whole new light...it seems to be home for many.

I think my favourite is the woodpecker, and the little tits.
It must have been a cat then with the distressed sounding attack...I didn't think foxes killed birds,anyway.

Will let you know of anymore weird and wonderful creatures...and thanks Smile

Maybe a giraffe it's so overgrown...or Indiana Jones?

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PoppyWearer · 14/01/2013 22:17

Jays are my all-time favourite birds. Must remember to put out some nuts for them in the morning!

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hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 14/01/2013 22:18

They are credited in some circles with re-foresting the country after the ice age. Jays bury acorns every winter to retrieve later, naturally some of those acorns germinate and grow into oak trees so they are not all bad.

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crazynanna · 14/01/2013 22:18

Yes startail, all the gardens sorrounding mine have verry mature massive trees. And yes...that is definitly it. A Jay. Wow. Jays and woodpeckers and tits. All in my inner city garden

So,the redwing...does it have red wings?

Will look out for it.
And...am going to charity shop tomorrow to get a bird book, to sit at my window. Wink

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hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 14/01/2013 22:20

And a fox's diet consists of small mammals, snakes, lizards, fish, berries, fruit, birds, eggs, insects and anything it can scavenge from our leftovers.

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hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 14/01/2013 22:22
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crazynanna · 14/01/2013 22:23

Yes hellhas....I see the foxes pulling up worms in the early morning. They put their paw down, and yank their head up and down pulling it out of the earth.

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hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 14/01/2013 22:26

I have spent most of my parenthood feeding my Asperger's DS's obsession for all things nature related but particularly birds (especially birds of prey), reptilian and anything related to British wildlife.

It paid off because he is now a full-time falconer but I miss our chats.

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crazynanna · 14/01/2013 22:26

oh the redwing is beautiful.

Just reminded me of another I saw hopping about in the hospital carpark where I work the other day.

Tiny..black and white sort of speckly.

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Tincletoes · 14/01/2013 22:28

That one sounds like a wagtail.

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RustyBear · 14/01/2013 22:30

If you're still going to be looking out of your kitchen window in two weeks' time, do the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch survey.

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CointreauVersial · 14/01/2013 22:30

Jays are lovely, but quite shy. Most people see them just as they are scooting back into the nearest trees. I saw a couple in my garden yesterday.

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DoodlesNoodles · 14/01/2013 22:32

Wow, great career choice hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman DS.

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Turniphead1 · 14/01/2013 22:34

Lotsa Jays in North London. My DS is a twitcher. I now know WAAAAY more about birds than I ever wanted to. But secretly love it - having only been able to ID a magpie or pigeon.
Get some RSPB feeders - it's great!

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