Where do birds live?
Different birds like to live in different areas. They prefer different habitats for access to food and shelter.
Small birds love gardens
Gardens are a great place for birds to find seeds, twigs, and berries. Hedges, flowers and trees provide shelter for these birds.
If your garden has a lot of plants, there's likely insects there too! This attracts birds who try to eat them!
This is a Chiffchaff. They are part of the Warbler family, and they are mostly summer visitors.
Chiffchaff's song (click play above)
This is a Blue Tit. You are likely to see him in your garden.
Blue Tit's song (click play above)
Gardens are a fantastic way to encourage wildlife into our towns, but just like the countryside it can come with a few dangers.
Which types of animals might try to hunt birds in a garden?(click here to reveal)
Cats love to hunt birds. If your garden is leafy however, birds will have a space to hide.
What bird is this?(click here to reveal)
Correct, it's a Great Spotted Woodpecker!
Woodpeckers make a very unique sound. You can hear them from far, far away. Do you know how they make this noise?
Woodpecker drumming (click play above)
We know that birds like to live in trees and shrubs in our gardens and in parks. Where would we find lots and lots of trees and plant life?
Many birds like to live in the woods
Birds that stay our gardens also spend time in the woods, but there are some birds you will find in the forest more than others.
There are different types of forests and trees? Scotland has many 'broadleaved' trees (most are 'deciduous' trees). These are trees that lose their leaves in autumn - such as oak or birch. Another type are 'coniferous' trees (or 'conifers'). These trees have needles and they often keep growing even in winter - such as Scots pine!
As their name might suggest, the Great Spotted Woodpecker lives in the woods! They will usually be in deciduous woodland. Woodpeckers are very unique.
Do Woodpeckers eat wood?
To find food, they hammer holes into trees with their hard beaks and then use their long tongues to eat larvae, beetles or spiders.
Since Scotland has mild winters and lots of old, hardy conifer trees, Great Spotted Woodpeckers like to live here all year round.
