Common Crossbill of Britain and Ireland

The Common Crossbill, Loxia curvirostra, is a large, stocky finch who is either a resident bird or occasional breeder in Britain and Ireland. 

Crossbills are nomadic birds who roam over woods and forests in search of the seeds of pine cones. The seeds of the Norway Spruce are particularly favoured. Large flocks from Europe occasionally arrive in Britain and Ireland in search of seeds from the Norway Spruce. Some stay and breed before returning to Europe.

The population of Common Crossbills is difficult to assess in Britain and Ireland due to the highly mobile nature of these birds. They are sometimes known as the Red Crossbill.

Males are normally red although some have orange or yellow plumage. Females are greenish-grey and juveniles are pale brown.

Crossbills travel in large, noisy flocks or small family groups for most of the year. They are normally seen flying near the tops of trees in woods and forests. 

The most distinguishing feature of these birds is a large bill which is crossed over at the tips.  The bill is specially designed to prize open and eat the seeds of pine and conifer, particularly those of the Norway Spruce, Scots Pine and larch. 

The Norway Spruce is the favoured tree of Crossbills because the seeds are larger and produced in greater quantities. Crossbills seek out the seeds of the Norway Spruce in commercial plantations, large forests, woods and occasionally parks.

“.This accomplished acrobat will hang upside-down, cracking open a cone kept pressed against the branch. The bird can carry cones as heavy as itself. It can strip bark from trees to expose creepy-crawlies underneath and chop up apples” (Irish Examiner - 

https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/outdoors/richard-collins/crossing-paths-with-the-crossbill-105121.html ).

The leaves, shoots and seeds of low lying plants, insects and invertebrates are also eaten.

They often fly down to the ground and drink from pools, rivers and streams.

Common Crossbills are widespread birds in Britain and Ireland where there is suitable habitat. Resident Crossbills often leave their woodland homes and fly to woods and forests where there is a good crop of pine cones. 

They are mobile birds who either remain in Britain and Ireland or fly to Europe in search of food.

Established breeding areas in Britain include the Scottish Highlands, the North Norfolk coast, the New Forest and the Forest of Dean.  

Crossbills from Continental Europe often fly to Britain and Ireland between May and June.

Irruptions of Crossbills from Scandinavia and European Russia occur at intervals of between 1 and 11 years. The irruptions happen because the Norway Spruce fails to produce a sufficient crop of pine cones.

Thousands of birds arrive on the shores of Britain and Ireland as they move southwards and westwards. Most are found on the east coast.  A large proportion of European Crossbills stay and breed before they and their offspring return to home

Crossbills are able to breed throughout the year although the time when nests are made depends on the number of pine cones available.

British and Irish Crossbills normally begin nesting in February and continue to raise their chicks through the spring. Some pairs begin nesting in August and rear their broods during the winter months.

The female builds a nest high in a tree which is made of twigs lined with finer material such as moss and feathers.

Three to four eggs are laid which take 2 weeks to hatch. The young are cared for by both parents and leave the nest after between 20 and 25 days. Pairs continue to feed their young for another 3 and 6 weeks.

The Common Crossbill is classified as of Least Concern by IUCN.

Europe holds about 20% of the global population of Common Crossbills. The population is described as “fluctuating” by Birdlife International. For example, a decline was reported in Finland because of forest fragmentation. 

The Common Crossbill is a green-listed species of bird in Britain and Ireland. 

The British Trust for Ornithology said the population is “difficult to assess” because of the mobile nature of these birds (BTO - https://app.bto.org/birdtrends/species.jsp?year=2011&s=cross ).

The range of the Common Crossbill has increased in areas such as Scotland and Ireland because of the planting of conifer forests.

The main threats to Crossbills include the felling of pine and conifer trees in woods and forests as well as predators such as squirrels.

For more information on the birds of the gardens and countryside of Britain and Ireland, please visit,

http://bird4u.mzzhost.com/index.html

Interesting Articles 

New Ross Standard - Bird Atlas Makes For Great Reading - https://www.independent.ie/regionals/newrossstandard/lifestyle/bird-atlas-makes-for-great-reading-30039442.html 

Red Crested Pochard of Britain

The Red Crested Pochard, Netta rufina, is a non-native species of duck in Britain who is about the size of a Mallard. Some escaped into the wild and began breeding. A breeding population of Red Crested Pochards is now established mostly in southern and eastern England. Their numbers in Britain have been increasing in recent years.  

Adult males have an orange-brown head, with a red bill, grey back and pale flanks. Females are duller with brown plumage and pale cheeks.

(Image of Red Crested Pochards pair by David Stone: http://www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/RealData/gallery_show.asp?galleryid=57591 ).

Red Crested Pochards are sociable ducks who normally inhabit the deep waters of inland lakes, rivers, gravel pits, reservoirs and marshes. Those in Europe are also found to a lesser extent around estuaries and sheltered coasts.

 Wintering Red Crested Pochards often form flocks with other ducks and waders. They are normally silent ducks although they sometimes make a distinctive “bak-bak-bak” call.

The diet of Red Crested Pochards is vegetarian. They dive for, dabble and up-end for the seeds, stems and roots of a range of aquatic plants. Aquatic invertebrates, amphibians and small fish are occasionally eaten.

Red Crested Pochards are not a native species of duck in Britain. There is only a small population of feral Red Crested Pochards which is distributed widely in Britain. They are the descendants of those escaped from private collections. 

Breeding Red Crested Pochards are now established in a few sites such as Cotswold Water Park which borders Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.

Most British Red Crested Pochards are found in southern and eastern England. Resident birds are mainly sedentary and rarely leave their breeding areas.

Some wintering Red Crested Pochards are “blown in” to Britain from central Europe where they breed.

Large concentrations of wintering birds are found in southern Germany and Switzerland. Wintering Red Crested Pochards also fly to Spain.

The distribution of Red Crested Pochards in southern and central Europe is “patchy”. The bulk of the population is found in Spain with fewer in France, the Netherlands and Germany. Most Red Crested Pochards only move short distances from their nest sites during the winter.

“Eastern and southeastern European and Russian breeders winter in the area of the Black and Caspian Seas, while birds breeding in Turkey and Azerbaijan winter in Egypt and southwest Asia”

(BTO – https://www.bto.org/ai/pdfs/75move.pdf).

The core of the Red Crested Pochard breeding population in Britain is found among the lakes and gravel pits of Cotswold Water Park. There are an estimated 200 Red Crested Pochards living all year round in Cotswold Water Park. Their ancestors were birds who escaped from private collections.

Cotswold Water Park borders the English counties of Wiltshire. Gloucestershire and West Oxfordshire.

Red Crested Pochards have been reported at another 52 sites in Britain. The areas where Red Crested Pochards have been seen in double figures include Lower Windrush Valley Gravel Pits in Oxfordshire, Baston and Langtoft Gravel Pits in Lincolnshire and Hanningfield Reservoir in Essex.

There have been several sighting of Red Crested Pochards at Upper Lough Erne in Northern Ireland since 2006.

Pairs are monogamous and males are attentive by regularly bringing food to females during the breeding season. The breeding season is between mid-April and early June.

The male and female make their nest among dense vegetation which is near water. They make a hollow in the ground or on a floating reedbed which is lined with roots, twigs, leaves and feathers.

Six to fourteen eggs are laid which hatch after 3 or 4 weeks. Two or more females look after each other's nest. They often leave their own nest and incubate the eggs of another female.

The status of the Red Crested Pochard has not been assessed in Britain.

The population of Red Crested Pochards is spreading in Britain. Their numbers in Cotswold Water Park have doubled in the last four years according to the British Trust for Ornithology (https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/u18/downloads/publications/wituk200708_5.pdf ).

The charity also said the winter population of Red Crested Pochards in Britain is estimated to be 570 birds.

The Red Crested Pochard is classified as of Least Concern by IUCN.

The population trend for the Red Crested Pochard in Europe is unknown according to Birdlife International.

The main threats to the Red Crested Pochard are loss of their wetland habitat, pollution and hunting in Spain, France and Portugal.

For more information on the birds of the gardens and countryside of Britain and Ireland, please visit,

http://bird4u.mzzhost.com/index.html

Interesting Articles

EBCC – Distribution of Red Crested Pochards in Europe: http://s1.sovon.nl/ebcc/eoa/?species1=1960

Defra - http://archive.jncc.gov.uk/PDF/pub07_waterbirds_part4.3.23.pdf

Europa - https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/conservation/wildbirds/hunting/docs/red_crested.pdf

Waxwing of Britain and Ireland

The Waxwing, Bombycilla garrulus, is an attractive and brightly coloured bird who is slightly smaller than a starling. 

Large flocks of Waxwing fly to Britain and Ireland in the autumn from their breeding grounds in Scandinavia and Siberia. They return to their breeding areas in the spring as they do not breed in Britain and Ireland.

Adults are exotic-looking birds with a reddish-brown and grey rump. There is a small black mask across the face as well as a black bib.

Waxwings earned their name “from the shade of red that tips their wings which has been likened to red sealing wax” [Irish Times – see below). They are sometimes called the Bohemian Waxwing.

Waxwings are sociable birds who spend their time in small groups or large flocks. Their typical haunts are the tops of trees in any type of habit where there are berries on bushes and trees.

Most are seen in gardens, parks, shopping centres and car parks in towns and cities. Fewer Waxwings are found in the countryside such as orchards, villages and the sides of roads.

The main winter food is a wide variety of berries. They are particularly fond of the berries of rowan, hawthorn and whitebeam. 

Other kinds of berries include those from roses and cotoneaters as well as fruit such as apples and seeds. 

Flocks of Waxwings often forage for food near humans in towns and cities. They prefer urban environments as the berries in the countryside have been eaten by blackbirds, fieldfares and thrushes.

Waxwings arrive on the east coast of Britain and Ireland in the autumn, or between October and November, from northern Scandinavia and Siberia. They move rapidly inland and are found in most areas where there are fruit-bearing bushes and trees.

Wintering Waxwings leave Britain and Ireland in the spring and are not generally seen after March.

An estimated 10,000 wintering Waxwings arrive in Britain each autumn. However, the number varies according to the crop of berries available. 

The majority of Waxwings are found in Scotland and the north-east of England. The second-highest concentration can be found in the west Midlands in England.

“Aberdeen can be regarded as the UK's capital city of Waxwings. Its location in relation to southwest Norway” Waxwings in Scotland move southwards to England as the winter progresses [Birdguides – see below).

Fewer Waxwings are seen in Ireland and generally found in the north and east of Ireland.

There are sometimes irruptions because of a lack of rowan berries on the wintering grounds in Scandinavia and central Europe. The frequency of irruptions has increased over the last 20 years according to the RSPB. 

The unusually cold weather in Europe during 2017 brought large numbers of Waxwings to the east coast of Britain and Ireland. A failure of a crop of berries in England can cause large numbers of Waxwings to arrive in Ireland.

The largest flocks in Ireland are between 150 and 400 birds [Irish Times - https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/europe-s-big-freeze-sends-flocks-of-waxwings-to-ireland-1.2938101 ). 

Flocks of over a 1000 Waxings have been recorded in Britain.

The RSPB advised gardeners to help Waxwings by planting rowans and other fruit-bearing trees in their gardens. Pruning shrubs and trees should also be left until the berries on the branches have been eaten.

The Waxwing is a green-listed species of bird in Britain and Ireland.

The Waxwing is classified as of Least Concern by IUCN.

Europe holds 15% of the global population of Waxwings and the population was described as “strong increasing” between 1980 and 2013.

For more information on the birds of the gardens and countryside of Britain and Ireland, please visit,

http://bird4u.mzzhost.com/index.html

Interesting Articles 

Birdguides: The vagaries of Waxwing migration: https://www.birdguides.com/articles/migration/the-vagaries-of-waxwing-migration/

Red-backed Shrike of Britain

The Red-Backed Shrike, Lanius collurio, is an attractive and graceful bird who became extinct as a breeding species in the late 1980s. 

Some European Red-Backed Shrikes pass over Britain while on their way to their wintering grounds in southern Africa.

The RSPB reported several pairs successfully nested in Dartmoor in England and Shetland in Scotland since 2010. 

 Ornithologists hope Red-Backed Shrikes will once again recolonise their former breeding ground in Britain.

Red-Backed Shrikes are slimmer and slightly larger than house sparrows. 

Males have a blue-grey head, black mask, white throat, pink breast and reddish back [Picture of a male – Birdguides: https://www.birdguides.com/gallery/birds/lanius-collurio/632835 ). Females and juveniles are a dull brown colour.

The hooked bills of Red-Backed Shrikes are a common feature in all species of Shrikes.

The typical habitats of Red-Backed Shrikes are open woodland, meadows, heaths, pastures, scrubland and hedges. 

Shrikes are raptor-like birds as they consume a wide range of insects [bees, beetles), small birds and mammals, amphibians and reptiles. 

The habit of Red-Backed Shrikes of impaling their prey on thorns and branches earned them the name of “butcher-birds”. 

The usual hunting method is to wait high on a perch for their prey to pass by. They return to the same perch once their prey has been caught. 

Red-backed Shrikes were once a common and widespread breeding species across southern England. Sadly, they became extinct because of changes in agricultural practices and loss of habitat. 

“In 1945 there were several hundred pairs… still breeding in Britain, but in the 1950s and 60s they underwent precipitate declines, perhaps because of the advent of intensive farming. By 1974 the wryneck had ceased to nest here; by 1989 so too had the shrike”.

Red-Backed Shrikes have recently “made sporadic attempts to breed here again; and now it has been suggested that Lanius collurio might be on the verge of recolonising its British habitat [Independent – https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the-unexpected-and-cheering-return-of-the-red-backed-shrike-a6806541.html).

The RSPB reported in 2010 that a pair had nested successfully for the first time since 1989 at a secret location in Dartmoor. The chicks were killed after being taken by magpies.

According to the RSPB in 2013, the same nesting pair ”fledged two youngsters at new undisclosed site on Dartmoor this summer…“This is now the fourth year they have returned to Dartmoor, but they failed to breed last year - probably due to the awful weather [BBC - https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-24322881 ).

Another pair of Red-Backed Shrikes successfully raised 4 chicks in 2015 on Shetland in Scotland [Press & Journal - https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen/675946/rare-bird-extinct-britain-chicks-secret-scottish-location/ ).

Approximately 200 Red-Backed Shrikes from Europe briefly stop in Britain while flying to and from their wintering grounds in southern Africa.

Most of the passage migrants are from Scandinavia. They fly along the east and south coasts of Britain during the autumn. A few also visit Britain during the summer 

[Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/16/red-backed-shrike-charismatic-butcher-bird-birdwatch ).

A map showing the distribution of European Red-Backed Shrikes has been provided by the BTO [Eurobird - https://eurobirdportal.org/ebp/en/#home/LANCOL/p52weeks ).

The breeding season begins in late May and ends in July. Pairs nest on rough, open land where there are trees and bushes.

Four to six eggs are laid by the female which take approximate 2 weeks. The chicks learn to fly after another 2 weeks.

The Red-backed Shrike is a red-listed species of bird in Britain.

The Red-Backed Shrike is classified as of Least Concern by IUCN.

Europe holds 60% of the global population. The European population is declining following “a dramatic decline in the west and north-east of its breeding range from 1970 to 1990 at least. However, in Europe, trends between 1980 and 2013 show that the population is stable” [Birdlife International).

“Red-backed Shrike is undergoing a severe decline in Spain’s Basque Country, with numbers having dropped by 95 per cent over the last 40 years.”.

“Over the whole of Spain, a negative trend in Red-backed Shrike numbers is also apparent, and since 1998, the species has lost more than 50 per cent of its population”.

“These figures contrast with the status of the species across European, where the latest numbers from the European Birds Census Council show the species to be stable up to 2015” [Birdguides - https://www.birdguides.com/articles/basque-red-backed-shrike-population-in-free-fall ).

The main threats to Red-Backed Shrikes are loss of habitat because of afforestation and agricultural changes, increased use of pesticides and climate change [cooler and wetter summers). 

For more information on the birds of the gardens and countryside of Britain and Ireland, please visit,

http://bird4u.mzzhost.com/index.html