Birds


Learn to Identify Moorland Birds

The hills are alive once again with the sound of spring birdsong. With the nesting season now in full swing, the RSPB have written us a beginner's guide to Britain's most common upland and moorland birds. Being able to distinguish your dippers from your dotterels brings a different sort of enjoyment to a hill day; and since many of these species are ground-nesting too, and thus vulnerable to disturbance, cultivating some knowledge of them can't go amiss.

Nb. This article follows on from our guide to Upland Birds of Prey:

A raven, summit of Ben Lui  © Lankyman
A raven, summit of Ben Lui
© Lankyman, Jul 2012


Black grouse

One of the UK's most spectacular wildlife performances is the lekking dance of the black grouse. The males strut, flutter and fight, making a series of extraordinary noises, to hold their place on the lek and secure a mate. Lekking happens for much of the year, but they key time to see this is in April and May. Black grouse are on the UK Red List, declining by over 80% in recent decades. The RSPB has been working to create the perfect habitat for them, planting trees and managing heather. This work has been supported by The Famous Grouse whisky, who have raised over £600,000 for black grouse conservation since the partnership began in 2008. If you buy a bottle of The Famous Grouse Smoky Black, you'll be helping to save this amazing bird.

Black grouse  © Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Black grouse
© Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)

Red grouse

This is a heather moorland specialist, feeding on heather shoots, seeds, berries and insects. Red grouse have a plump body, a short tail and a lightly hook-tipped bill. They're reddish-brown, with legs and feet covered in pale feathers. Red grouse breed in the UK in the uplands of the north and west, and are resident all year round, travelling very little in their lives. The population is declining, perhaps due to the loss of heather moorland.

Red grouse  © Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Red grouse
© Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)

Red Grouse at Bamford (one of the lucky ones?).  © jim jones
Red Grouse at Bamford (one of the lucky ones?).
© jim jones, Apr 2016

Common sandpiper

This is a smallish wader – a bird that wades in water to feed. It has contrasting brown upperparts and white underparts. It habitually bobs up and down, known as 'teetering', and has a distinctive flight with stiff, bowed wings. The presence of common sandpipers is often betrayed by their three-note call, given as they take flight. They arrive in summer to breed along fast rivers and by lakes, lochs and reservoirs in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the north of England.

Common sandpiper  © Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Common sandpiper
© Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)

Curlew

This bird, with its long, downcurved bill, is the largest member of the wader family in the UK. You'll see curlews on upland moorlands, grasslands, coasts and estuaries, where you will probably also hear their extraordinary, haunting, bubbling call. You will, however, encounter fewer of these birds than you might have done 50 years ago. Numbers of British breeding curlews plummeted by 48% between 1995 and 2014. Changes in land use have meant the habitats curlews need to raise their chicks are now scarce, and ground predators have more access to the areas that remain. We know that restoring and re-wetting bogs that have been drained is an important factor for these birds, and this has been shown to work well at Eastern Moors, managed by the National Trust and the RSPB. The RSPB is running a five year land management trial to discover the best way to create the right conditions for curlews. This project is part of Action for Birds in England, a conservation partnership between Natural England and the RSPB, and you can find out more here: Curlew Recovery Programme.

Curlew  © Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Curlew
© Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)

Dotterel

This medium-sized member of the plover family is unusual in that the adult female is brighter than the male - an indication of their role-reversal in raising the young. Adults have largely grey-brown upperparts and bright chestnut belly, with a white chest band, throat and eyestripe, the latter contrasting with a dark cap. On spring migration they are often seen in groups, or 'trips', at traditional stopping places. In summer dotterels are only found on Scotland's high tops, and are best looked for on spring and autumn migration. Spring groups are usually seen at traditional stopping points, especially in Eastern England.

photo
Dotterel
© Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)

Dipper

Our only aquatic songbird, the dipper is short-tailed and plump with a low, whirring flight. When perched on a rock it habitually bobs up and down and frequently cocks its tail. The dipper's white throat and breast contrasts with its dark body plumage. It is remarkable in its method of walking into and under water in search of food: insect larvae and shrimps. Dippers are found along fast-flowing rivers, mainly in upland areas. Look out for tell-tale droppings on stones in the river. These hardy birds only leave the uplands in cold spells of weather.

Dipper  © Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Dipper
© Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)

Grey wagtail

The grey wagtail is more colourful than its name suggests with slate grey upper parts and distinctive lemon yellow under-tail. The colouring means that they're often mistaken for yellow wagtails. They have gradually increased their range in the past 150 years and in the UK have expanded into the English lowlands from the northern and western uplands. However they are now on the Red List in the UK, meaning that they are priority bird spcies for the RSPB. Grey wagtails are found over most of the UK, with the exception of the Northern and western isles of Scotland. They like fast flowing rivers, and in summer their greatest densities are in the hills of England, Scotland and Wales. Like dippers, they have a shrill, whistling call which can be heard over the sound of rushing water.

Grey wagtail in summer  © Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Grey wagtail in summer
© Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)

Golden plover

These striking looking birds will be in their summer plumage now, a smart black and gold. In summer golden plover inhabit upland moorlands in the southern Uplands and Highlands of Scotland, the Western and Northern Isles, the Peak District, North Yorkshire, Wales and Devon. In winter they move to lowland fields, forming huge flocks, often in the company of lapwings.

Golden plover  © Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Golden plover
© Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)

Ptarmigan

The ptarmigan is a plump gamebird, slightly larger than a grey partridge. In summer, its plumage is a mixture of grey, brown and black above, with a white belly and wings. In winter, it becomes totally white, camouflaged against the snow, although the tail and eye-patch remain black. Their feathery feet are another important adaptation for their chilly habitat, the highest mountains of the Scottish Highlands. These birds are residents, seldom moving far from breeding sites. In severe cold weather, birds may move from the highest ground to the edge of forests.

Ptarmigan  © Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Ptarmigan
© Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)

Ptarmigan  © IM
Ptarmigan
© IM, Mar 2016

Meadow pipit

A small, brown, streaky bird, this is the commonest songbird in upland areas and its high, piping call is a familiar sound. In flight it shows white outer tail feathers and in the breeding season it has a fluttering 'parachute' display flight. Meadow pipits are nervous birds, and this is understandable when you realise that they are on the menu for many other moorland birds. They're important prey for buzzards, hen harriers, merlins, peregrines, ravens and short-eared owls. Meadow pipit numbers in the UK have been declining since the mid-1970s, resulting in this species being included on the amber list of conservation concern.

Meadow pipit  © Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Meadow pipit
© Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)

Raven

The raven is a big black bird, the biggest member of the crow family. It has long wings, and a thick, heavy bill. In flight, it shows a diamond-shaped tail. Ravens have a wide vocabulary of calls, including the distinctive "cronk"! They breed mainly in the west and north although they are currently expanding their range eastwards. Most birds are residents, though some birds - especially non-breeders and young birds - wander from their breeding areas but do not travel far.

Raven  © Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Raven
© Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)

Buachaille Raven  © G. Robertson
Buachaille Raven
uistgr, Oct 2016
© G. Robertson

Ring ouzel

These birds are members of the thrush family, and have a similar appearance to blackbirds. The male has with a striking white breast band, contrasting with his black feathers. The female is brown, with a slightly duller white band.Ring ouzels are upland birds, breeding mainly in steep sided valleys, crags and gullies, from near sea level in the far north of Scotland up to 1,200m in the Cairngorms. Breeding begins in mid-April and continues through to mid-July, with two broods common, and nests are located on or close to the ground in vegetation (typically in heather) or in a crevice. The young are fed a diet consisting mainly of earthworms and beetles. In autumn ring ouzels migrate to North Africa.

Ring ouzel  © Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Ring ouzel
© Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)

  • These birds are particularly susceptible to disturbance so we ask hillwalkers and climbers to be particularly careful in areas where there are known to be nesting ring ouzels. They're on the UK Red List, with falling numbers and a shrinking breeding range.

Wheatear

Wheatears are small, mainly ground-dwelling birds. The male is blue-grey above with black wings and a black cheek, and white below with an orange flush to the breast. These birds visit us in summer, and are one of the first migrants to return to the uplands. They breed mainly in western and northern Britain and western Ireland. The wheatear gets its name not from an arable crop, but its pale rump, giving it an old name similar to "white arse". Wheatears spend the colder months in central Africa.

Wheatear  © Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Wheatear
© Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)

Whinchat

The whinchat is a small perching bird. It hops or runs on the ground and often perches on top of low bushes. It has a prominent white stripe above the eye. It is streaky brown above and warm orange-buff on the breast. The whinchat is a summer visitor and passage migrant, wintering in central and southern Africa. Birds breed in upland areas of northern and western Britain with a few in Ireland. Whinchat numbers in Britain more than halved between 1995 and 2008, the cause(s) being unknown. The BTO and RSPB are working to solve the mystery of the decline of this bird by tagging them to track their migration routes. You can see whinchats all over the UK, including the RSPB upland nature reserves at Geltsdale, Haweswater and Lake Vyrnwy.

Whinchat  © Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Whinchat
© Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)


Help protect moorland birds

General advice

You can enjoy exploring our beautiful uplands without disturbing wildlife, providing you stay alert to how birds and other animals are behaving. Moorland birds nest on the ground, so they're particularly vulnerable. If a bird is calling repeatedly close by, it's likely that it is making an alarm call because you are too close to its nest – so move on as quickly as you can.

If you're accompanied by a canine family member please use a lead where appropriate, and be aware of ground-nesting birds, livestock and other animals including adders.

Watching black grouse leks

The best way to watch leks and feeding birds is from a vehicle, as black grouse pay little attention to stationary cars that are at least 100 metres away. Avoid approaching a lek on foot, which usually disturbs the birds. To see a black grouse lek you usually need to make an early start, arriving at the lek site before daybreak. A vehicle stopping once it is light can disturb the birds. Stay in your vehicle and watch quietly through binoculars and telescopes. Get the flask of coffee from the boot before your vigil. Don't start the engine until after lekking has wound down, usually about two hours after dawn. Alternatively, you can consider watching a lek in the evening!

Loading Notifications...
Facebook Twitter Copy Email