Bird ID with pic!

[dudsville]

I asked last week about bird ID and had some helpful replies on here. We didn't think we had a pic at the time, but DH just found out that his outdoor camera did catch it, so I'm asking again to make sure. Can anyone ID this bird?

So I’m assuming that you don’t like eagles, hawks, owls or falcons?

So I’m assuming that you don’t like eagles, hawks, owls or falcons?

I don't think anyone would describe those birds a delightful! Magnificent yes. Not delightful. Delightful is robins and blue tits.

Its a Jay

I see more now (in south London) that I used to

I saw a Nuthatch a few months ago I was very excited by this

Oh for goodness sake, I dealt with this higher up the thread. They eat primarily nuts, are responsible for roughly half the oak seedlings in the U.K. because they bury so many acorns, and they also eat invertebrates.

The occasional predation of hatchlings is not a major part of their diet, and is at a time when they are feeding their own chicks. That’s nature.

Unless you come from a long line of vegans, you too have been involved in the death of baby animals - your fellow mammals’ babies, even. (Male calves are slaughtered as part of perpetuating the dairy industry, for example)

I don’t think humans can afford to be sanctimonious about any other species killing for food.

Jays are delightful. Beautiful, inquisitive, clever, amazing memories and a welcome visitor to my garden at any time.

Robins are adorable but also bullying, territorial little thugs who pick on tits, sparrows and dunnocks something rotten. Birds can have behaviours you don’t like and still be charming.

I once saw a nuthatch and a tree creeper on the same day! One spiralling down the tree, the other spiralling up. One of my best bird days.

I don't remember ever seeing a jay. We've had blue tits, but haven't seen one this year. We did see (what I think) coal tits (if they are tinier than blue tits).

We have robins in our garden, they tried to make a nest really low down, just outside our back door, so we had to block the cat flap. Luckily they decided to abandon that nest, as it was on a ladder, which we use regularly.

The robins are still here and are feeding from the food I put out under the trees. The blackbirds have also found this food.

We do have feeders, but starlings take the food from there, occasionally sparrows too. But the blackbirds and robins have never touched it and prefer the food on the ground.

Given up with the fat ball feeders, as no matter where they go, the squirrels manage to get them, then the pigeons scoop up the remnants.

We have a very large number of red kites, which are amazing to watch, but never come in the garden, only fly overhead.

I love the corvid family and would love to see a jay.

I do not have any jays (my, aren't they beautiful) but this is last year's baby long eared owl, born in my garden.

My jay has just been back, he is becoming a regular. Robin is always there, he lives in my holly bush. I did see a Nuthatch a few weeks ago, not been back since.

Jealous of the owl, we can hear one out back every night very loud but never seen him.

@WellThisIsStupid blackbirds can’t use feeders and robins only use the ones with the good sized perching bars usually Both lack the grippy feet of tits and finches etc that let them use feeders by clinging on. You’re doing the best thing for them, feed them on the ground.

NB - platform feeders will work for both robins and blackbirds but the RSPB has just recommended those not be used because of a disease spread via feeders that kills finches that is back in the U.K. We lost most of our greenfinches through a feeder-spread disease, so they urge us all to be cautious.