Twitchers of Mumsnet

[KnockMeDown]

Please can you help me identify a bird? I have been let down by my very comprehensive Britain's Birds, and by the RSPB on-line identifier.

A pair of these birds have been flitting around our garden this morning, and we have never seen them before. They favour hopping around and feeding on the grass. Size and shape similar to robin but a bit bigger. Grey colour but some orange under wings, and white wing tips.

Have attached best pic I could get, but difficult to focus through window.

Any ideas?

Could it be a Black Redstart? www.britishbirdlovers.co.uk/bird-identification/black-redstart

The top picutre on the page doesn't look so much like it, but if you scroll down the bottom photo looks quite the same to me...

Oh, and the description says they sometimes nest in piles of stones on the ground...that would be very cool if she is looking to make a nest there.

It does look like a black redstart - how lovely!
They're a funny thing - once really rare in the UK, now they're merely quite rare, and found in pockets in really urban areas.

Plus we get quite a few coming to the UK from colder climes, to over winter.

So - are you in in a really urban place, or are you in the south/nearish the coast, or somewhere else?

Piewacket I think you may have it! The pics of this in my bird book made it look different.

However cool it would be for them to nest there, we have a cat who likes catching birds, so I would discourage that, especially as I see they are relatively rare!

No they won't be nesting now. In the main, birds only build nests in the spring, to lay eggs in and raise their young. It'll be looking for insects in the rocks, to eat.

Zebra we are on south coast, village location.

Ah! Do you have rocky beaches near you? They love them.

Beaches nearby are a mix of dunes and shingle. We are about a mile from the sea.

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