gb supp 2018 (1)

BLUE TIT
Rivalling the Great Tit for the easiest
bird to attract to a garden nestbox, the
Blue Tit is a familiar character across
most of the country.
SPRING ANTICS
Males can, with care, be distinguished
from females by having a reduced blue
cap, with more white on the forehead.
They perform a lovely ‘parachuting’
display flight after a brief trill, seemingly
flying in slow-mo and gliding on spread
wings to impress his mate. The pair
spend a lot of time adding moss, etc., to
the nest, which is most frequently in a
hole-fronted nestbox in gardens.
NEST TYPE
Most garden Blue Tits nest in nestboxes,
with a 25mm diameter hole. They will,
however, nest in any suitable cavity.
How you can help
GREENFINCH
Sadly, partly due to the spread of
a disease which has been linked to
unclean feeding environments,
Greenfinches, like many smaller birds
in the UK, have undergone a big
population crash. Once very common,
now they are more localised.
SPRING ANTICS
One of the great treats of a sunny spring
day in the suburbs is watching the
‘butterfly’ display flight of the
Greenfinch. Only the males do it, while
singing their twittering songs. They also
produce a wheezy, drawn-out nasal note,
often from a high tree or roof.
NEST TYPE
Greenfinches make a cup-like nest
of twigs and grass lined with fur
within a dense bush or shrub. They
nest ‘colonially’.
Wildscotphotos/Alamy*
Put up suitable nestboxes! Though
they will find thousands of caterpillars by
themselves (which they need to feed
the youngsters), a bit of supplementary
feeding for the adults is, as usual,
recommended.
How you can help
Provide suitable nesting shrubs and, of
course, don’t trim your bushes during the
breeding season. And, as usual, keep
putting out food for the birds (but keep
the feeding area clean and disinfected).
Richard Pittam/Alamy
14 Create the Perfect Bird Garden 2018