Identify woodland birds on the go
Keep our pocket-sized identification guide to hand on your next walk.
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One of the joys of spring is the burst of bird song it brings, but telling birds apart by sound alone can be tricky for beginners. Start by learning the repertoire of some of the UK's most familiar songsters and you'll soon get your ear in.
A silvery, crystal song that becomes more wistful during the winter months.
Produces a rapid, urgent 'tic' call when alarmed.
Can be heard all year round, but especially at dusk. Artificial lighting can encourage it to sing long into the evening.
Audio: Andrew Harrop / xeno-canto.org
Clear and repetitive 'tea-cher, tea-cher, tea-cher'.
Has a range of calls that can be difficult even for seasoned birdwatchers to identify.
Begins singing in early spring as buds begin to burst.
Audio: Stuart Fisher / xeno-canto.org
A loud burst of song with consistent phrases, including a tell-tale machine gun rattle towards the end.
A loud, rapid 'tititic' when alarmed.
Can be heard all year round but especially in spring.
Audio: Mike Ball / xeno-canto.org
Says its name with a lively, repeated 'chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff, chiff-chiff-chaff'.
Contact calls between pairs are short 'it' sounds.
Begins singing as early as February after returning to the UK on migration.
Audio: Dave Curtis / xeno-canto.org
A melancholy, descending song of falling notes.
Soft 'hoo-eet' sound.
Listen for them from late March and early April once they've returned from sub-Saharan Africa.
Audio: Tony Fulford / xeno-canto.org
Short and fast descending song that ends with 'diddieoo', or repetitive, insistent single notes known as the chaffinch's rain song.
Contact call is an abrupt 'pink, pink' sound.
Can be heard throughout spring and summer.
Audio: Dave Curtis / xeno-canto.org
Rich and mellow with a languid pace and short pauses between phrases.
Scolding, harsh outburst when alarmed and often delivered in flight.
Typically heard on long summer evenings.
Audio: Frank Lambert / franklambertbirding.com
Variety of short, high-pitched phrases, usually repeated two or three times in quick succession.
Flight call is a sharp 'tsip'.
Males begin singing as early as January, particularly in early morning.
Audio: Bram Piot / xeno-canto.org
A loud and rapid 'twit-twit-twit-twit' or slower 'sirr-sirr-sirr'.
Series of harsh sounds much like the song but which come closer together when excited.
Can be heard throughout the year.
Audio: Nick Talbot / xeno-canto.org
Light and twittery song with delicate phrases.
Produces various calls, some fluttery and others shrill, particularly when travelling in groups.
Listen for them from late April.
Audio: Stuart Fisher / xeno-canto.org
Building notes that fall suddenly away in a wheeze, famously said to sound like 'little-bit-of-bread-and-no-cheeeeese'.
Various, including 'twick' sounds and a thin 'see' when alarmed.
Heard singing from hedgerows throughout spring and summer.
Audio: Tony Whitehead / xeno-canto.org
Keep our pocket-sized identification guide to hand on your next walk.
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