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The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Bullfinch male perched on branch with seed in beak Male siskin on alder cones Juvenile great spotted woodpecker
Bird identifier

Bird identifier

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Home > Birds and wildlife > Bird identifier

Bird identifier

Tips

  • Only UK garden birds are included
  • The results illustrations are not to scale
  • The more search options you tick, the better your results will be
  • If a bird you expected to see is not in the results, try selecting a different size or beak details. Size is often difficult to estimate
  • Birds can often look different from illustrations depending on a number of factors (eg if they are growing new feathers)
  • If the identity of your mystery bird still does not appear, could it have escaped from an aviary?

Use our interactive bird identifier to quickly and easily work out what bird you saw.

What birds are included?

The identifier includes 117 of the most common garden birds in the UK.

Why aren't other birds included?

We wanted to launch our bird identifier as soon as possible and collating ID information for all birds in a suitable format would have delayed it. We hope to add more species in the future.

System requirements

The bird identifier uses Javascript. If you have disabled Javascript in your browser settings, you will need to re-enable it for the bird identifier to work. If you have not changed your browser settings, it should work fine.

We need your help to make it even better

We've tried to make the bird identifier straightforward and easy to use - but we know we can improve it. Send your feedback to web.enquiries@rspb.org.uk

Start here

Start here

Mobile version

You can also try our mobile bird identifier by visiting www.rspb.org.uk/mobile on your WAP phone.

About the RSPB

The RSPB speaks out for birds and wildlife, tackling the problems that threaten our environment. We rely upon memberships and donations to fund our work. Nature is amazing - help us keep it that way. More...

Contact us

Visit our Contact us section for telephone numbers, office addresses and more.

Latest news

Woodland birds in decline

Latest results from the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) puts woodland birds at the top of the list of declining species.

New wetland could see continental birds arriving in Kent

Restoration of a large area of Kent countryside to wildlife-rich wetland could see the garden of England become a landing pad for bird species moving north from Europe as the climate warms.

Seabird failure continues for another year

Early reports of seabird breeding performance on some RSPB coastal reserves, especially in parts of Scotland and Wales, indicate continuing problems for internationally-important populations of guillemots, kittiwakes and other seabirds.

More news...

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© 2008 The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Charity registered in England and Wales no 207076, in Scotland no SC037654
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Last published: 03/12/2007 15:18:59
Show/hide picture credits
Bullfinch male perched on branch with seed in beak - Sue Tranter (rspb-images.com)
Male siskin on alder cones - Graham Catley
Juvenile great spotted woodpecker - Steve Round
Bird illustrations by Mike Langman (RSPB)