British Garden Birds

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British Garden Birds is dedicated to helping garden birdwatchers to identify and enjoy the birds that visit their gardens, and to understand the birds' lives and behaviour.		Other Shops >>
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July is when waterfowl, like Mallards, lose all of their flight feathers at once and so cannot fly. This would put the colourful males at risk from predators so they acquire an "eclipse" plumage that makes them look like females and offers better camouflage. Other garden birds will also soon start moulting and some, like the Robin, can be quite retiring.	After they have finished the exhausting job of rearing their young, adult birds start to replace their worn and faded feathers in a process called moulting. Also, in a few months, many of this year's juveniles will start to get their adult plumage and some species, like the Starling, can look very strange with some juvenile feathers and some adult ones.
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Quite a few people have commented that they have heard Cuckoos more this year than in past years? This is despite the decline in numbers that was widely reported last year. People may simply been more observant or there may have been more Cuckoos. Have you heard them this year? Vote now!	Look out for moulted feathers and see if you can work out the bird from which they came. Also, take a very close look at the feather through a magnifying glass or microscope and you'll see the little hooks that hold the barbs together. More >>

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Last revision: 02 Jul 2010