There are so many amazing species that you might encounter in parks and gardens, so we have created a separate guide just for tits and finches. Get to know your neighbours.
The Sounds of… Parks and Gardens – Tits and Finches includes some of the more well-known birds which appear in our towns, cities and countryside. In fact, some of them, like the Blue Tit, appear almost anywhere.
We have another page for some of the most common visitors to our parks and gardens here.
So whether it is the Great Tit’s squeaky bike pump or the Greenfinches high-pitched kazoo, we hope this guide will help you identify the calls of some of the most iconic species which sing, or shout, as you head outside this spring and summer.
The Blue Tit – petite fashion icon – who mixes it up with feathers of blue, yellow, white and green. Male and female are both on trend, with almost identical outfits.
The Great Tit is the UK’s largest tit and has the confidence to go with the looks, often seen bossing smaller birds around at feeders. They make a striking entrance, with black heads, white cheeks and yellow bellies with a black stripe.
The Long-tailed Tit is a raspberry ripple lollipop in bird form, with a tail bigger than its body. Often seen in excitable groups nosily flitting between bushes and feeders.
Bringing the glamour to the garden, the pizazz to the park, the Goldfinch’s gear is up there with the best. Bright yellow stripes spark against black wings, while its red face if offset by bright white cheeks.
The male Greenfinch looks slightly stern with his dark eyes and chunky beak, but his warm green/yellow glow softens the stare. Female is a more subtle brown/green but both retain the eye-catching yellow stripes on their wings.
The Coal Tit is a small acrobatic expert who seems to never stop moving. It has a black head with white cheeks and chest, but no green like the great tit and it’s smaller. Despite the name, they are very much on board with reducing fossil fuel use.
The Bullfinch is a plump, shy but beautiful bird who is easily spooked. The male’s breast and cheeks almost glow pinkish red while the female is a dusky light brown with the same black cap and white rump.
