UK Birding Guides
Free, no-fluff guides for British birders, what's around this month, where to find it in your region, and answers to the questions every birder asks. Written for casual spotters and patch-keepers alike.
📅 By month. What to look for now
January birding in the UK
Year-list month. Winter wildfowl, divers at sea, white-winged gulls and the Big Garden Birdwatch.
Read January guide →February birding in the UK
Late winter. Goshawks display, woodpeckers drum, first song, Dee high tides.
Read February guide →March birding in the UK
First spring migrants. Wheatears, sand martins, chiffchaffs, returning ospreys.
Read March guide →April birding in the UK
Swallows, warblers, cuckoos and nightingales arrive. Spring overshoots on the south coast.
Read April guide →May birding in the UK
Migration peaks. Spring warblers in woodlands, swifts overhead, terns at the coast.
Read May guide →June birding in the UK
Breeding season at full tilt. Seabird colonies packed, nightjars churring.
Read June guide →July birding in the UK
Wader passage starts. Juveniles fledging. Quiet woodland, busy estuaries.
Read July guide →August birding in the UK
Autumn passage opens, willow warblers and pied flycatchers on the move.
Read August guide →September birding in the UK
Peak migration. East winds bring drift migrants to the east coast.
Read September guide →October birding in the UK
Yank waders on the west coast, Siberian warblers on the east. Twitching season.
Read October guide →November birding in the UK
Geese peak, thrushes and waxwings arrive, late rarities, murmurations build.
Read November guide →December birding in the UK
Peak wildfowl, harrier and starling roosts, the busiest garden feeders.
Read December guide →📍 By region, local guides
London birding
City reservoirs, parks, and the Thames, birding in Britain's biggest concrete jungle is better than you think.
London guide →North West England
Lancashire reedbeds, Manchester's mosses, Cheshire estuaries, Cumbrian uplands.
North West guide →Yorkshire & the Humber
Bempton seabird cliffs, Spurn migration point, North York Moors raptors.
Yorkshire guide →South East England
Dungeness, Pagham, North Kent marshes, passage migrants and wintering wildfowl.
South East guide →📖 By topic, deep-dives
Garden birds of the UK
The Big Garden Birdwatch top 25: ID tips, best feeders, what each species eats.
Garden birds →UK raptors & owls
Buzzard, kite, sparrowhawk, harrier, peregrine, owls, separating the lookalikes.
Raptors guide →British seabirds
Where to see gannets, puffins, shearwaters and storm petrels: when, how, and which boat.
Seabirds guide →Winter wildfowl
Where Britain's geese, swans and ducks gather Nov–Feb: the spectacle every birder needs to see.
Winter wildfowl →Migration in Britain
How the seasons shape what you see: spring arrivals, autumn passage, vagrants and wonders.
Migration guide →Starling murmurations
When they peak, what time to arrive, and where to stand in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Murmuration guide →Spotting scope vs binoculars
Which you need, when a scope is worth it, and what to buy first on any budget.
Read the comparison →Big Garden Birdwatch 2027
29 to 31 January 2027. How to count, the 2026 top 10, and how to get more birds on the day.
Birdwatch guide →Rare birds in the UK
Yank waders, Siberian warblers, Asian thrushes, what's actually appeared and where to chase the next one.
Rare birds →🔎 Tell them apart: confusion species
Bird ID comparisons
All eleven side by side comparisons in one place, each with a field mark table.
All comparisons →Chiffchaff vs Willow Warbler
Dark legs and a two-note song against pale legs and a falling cadence.
Compare →Crow vs Rook vs Raven vs Jackdaw
Four black corvids split by face, crown, tail shape and voice.
Compare →Swift vs Swallow vs House Martin
Four summer fliers, Sand Martin included, split by rump, tail and throat.
Compare →Redwing vs Fieldfare
The two winter thrushes: small with a cream eye stripe against big with a grey head.
Compare →House Sparrow vs Tree Sparrow vs Dunnock
Grey crown, chestnut cap with a cheek spot, or a thin bill and a grey head.
Compare →Mute Swan vs Whooper Swan vs Bewick's Swan
Orange bill, long yellow wedge or small rounded yellow patch.
Compare →🎙 Tools
Identify a bird by its song
Record ten seconds on your phone and get the top three matches. Free, no app, runs in the browser.
Bird sound ID →Daily bird games
Birdle, Silhouette, Bird Call, Habitat Match, Bird Connections and Bird Mini. New puzzles every day at midnight.
Play today's games →🛍 Gear and buying guides
Best binoculars for UK birding
Three picks across three budgets. The 8×42 that does it all, from under £100 to £300.
Binoculars guide →Best spotting scopes
For estuaries, sea-watching and distant raptors. Budget to travel premium, plus the tripod truth.
Scopes guide →Best cameras for bird photography
Bridge superzooms with the reach to fill the frame. From around £400 to 3000mm of zoom.
Cameras guide →Best bird food
The three foods that bring in nearly every garden bird, plus what to never put out.
Bird food guide →Best bird feeders
The feeders that work, the squirrel defences that hold, and what to skip.
Feeders guide →How to attract garden birds
Food, water, cover and nest boxes. Turn any garden into a bird magnet.
Attract guide →Feeding from 1 November
The RSPB seed pause ends on 31 October. What to restart and how to keep feeders clean.
Winter feeding guide →Bird Atlas 2027-31
The new map of every bird in Britain and Ireland. Dates, who runs it, how to take part.
Atlas explainer →Bird ID starter kit
The few things a new birder actually needs to start identifying birds with confidence.
Starter kit →Best nest boxes
Hole sizes for tits, sparrows and starlings, where to fix the box and which ones last.
Nest box guide →Best bird baths
Shallow, rough and easy to clean. Where to put one and how to keep it ice-free.
Bird bath guide →Best bird books and field guides
Collins, the RSPB Handbook or a photo guide. Which one to buy first.
Bird book guide →Bird box and trail cameras
Nest box cameras, trail cameras and smart feeders. What each is for and what to fit before spring.
Camera guide →Gifts for birdwatchers
Ideas by budget that a birder will use, from a pocket guide to a first pair of binoculars.
Gift guide →All UK species A to Z
Every bird on the British list with its own page: where to see it, when to look and how rare it is.
Species A to Z →🪺 Track every bird you see, free
Where's That Bird? is a free Pokédex-style life list for British birds. 721 species to find, daily mini-games, leaderboards by region, and a community map of recent sightings. Sign in with Google in two clicks: no email signup, no spam.
Open the Birdedex →