BIRDS OF EUROPEAN BACKYARDS
These small birds named “wild birds” come daily into our gardens and yards to feed at the bird-feeders we offer to them, to nest under our roofs or in our trees, to raise their youngs sheltered from the predators and to enchant our days.
These species lived formerly in the surrounding countryside, and even if these birds came close to our houses, then they returned towards their wild habitat.
Today, this habitat suffered many changes. The wild areas are cultivated and poisoned by pesticides which do not allow them to find their favourite insects or berries. The forests disappear and the trees which offered branches and foliage to hide their nests are removed or very few, that involves competitions between several species to find a free cavity or space to procreate.
This is why the disappearance of the habitat leads these birds towards our houses. The species adapt to humans, and know how to get the maximum from them by recovering food, finding nest-sites and the necessary protection for the continuity of the species.
Several species known as “common” are regularly observed in gardens, yards or neighbourhoods, but some of their behaviours deserve to be more carefully studied, for lack of being well understood!
List of the species:
The cards tagged * contain more pictures by means of a slideshow.
The sounds are already available at the rubric "Voice" in every card.
Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica - Hirondelle rustique *
Blackcap – Sylvia atricapilla – Fauvette à tête noire *
Black Redstart – Phoenicurus ochruros – Rouge-queue noir *
Blue Tit – Cyanistes caeruleus – Mésange bleue *
Chaffinch – Fringilla coelebs – Pinson des arbres *
Chiffchaff - Phylloscopus collybita - Pouillot véloce *
Common Blackbird - Turdus merula - Merle noir *
Common Firecrest - Regulus ignicapilla - Roitelet triple bandeau *
Common Redstart - Phoenicurus phoenicurus - Rougequeue à front blanc *
Dunnock – Prunella modularis – Accenteur mouchet
Eurasian Bullfinch - Pyrrhula pyrrhula - Bouvreuil pivoine *
Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto – Tourterelle turque *
Eurasian Nuthatch - Sittelle torchepot - Sitta europaea *
Eurasian Siskin – Carduelis spinus – Tarin des aulnes *
European Goldfinch - Carduelis carduelis - Chardonneret élégant *
European Greenfinch – Carduelis chloris – Verdier d’Europe *
European Robin - Erhitacus rubecula - Rouge-gorge familier *
Great Tit – Parus major – Mésange charbonnière *
Hawfinch – Coccothraustes coccothraustes – Grosbec casse-noyaux *
House Sparrow - Passer domesticus - Moineau domestique *
Long-tailed Tit – Aegithalos caudatus – Mésange à longue queue
Songthrush - Turdus philomelos - Grive musicienne
Spotted Flycatcher - Muscicapa striata - Gobemouche gris *
White Wagtail - Motacilla alba - Bergeronnette grise *
Winter Wren – Troglodytes troglodytes – Troglodyte mignon
OBSERVATION REPORTS:
Reproduction of the Blue-Tit in nest-box
Romantic House Sparrow, a new species? (First observation of this behaviour)