The results are in! Thank you to the more than 32,000 people across Scotland who took part in our 2019 Big Garden Birdwatch. In this blog, RSPB Scotland’s Allie McGregor tells us which birds topped the list and lets us know what our top birds will be up to now we’re finally in Spring!
Scotland’s top garden birds are…
#1 House Sparrow – Gealbhonn UK-wide result: #1
Once again, the house sparrow has topped our charts having been seen in over 70% of gardens by those participating in the Big Garden Birdwatch!
House sparrows will begin nesting at this time of year – they regularly use nestboxes and are also found nesting in the holes and crevices in buildings. Pairs of house sparrows remain faithful to their nest site for life.
#2 Starling – Druid UK-wide result: #2
Starlings have held on to second place in 2019. However, we did see a small drop in the number of gardens recording starlings this year.
Starlings lay their eggs in about mid-April. Male starlings will begin building the nest with dry grass and leaves, attracting their mate by singing from nearby perches. The female starling will finish the nest off.
#3 Chaffinch - Breacan-beithe UK-wide result: #9
In third place we have darling chaffinches, spotted in over half of people’s gardens. The number of chaffinches spotted in gardens that recorded them was slightly up from 2018.
Chaffinches can leave nest building as late as early May! While sometimes they are a little bit later to nest-building, they will already be very defensive of their breeding territories. Chaffinch nests are well crafted and camouflaged.
#4 Blue Tit - Cailleachag cheann-gorm UK-wide result: #3
Blue tits fly into fourth place with the number seen in gardens recording them also up a little from last year.
Blue tits will have most likely just recently begun to build their nests and will lay throughout April. Their goal is to ensure their brood coincides with a great abundance of caterpillars. Unlike many other species, blue tits only raise one brood of chicks, so the timing is all the more critical.
#5 Blackbird - Lon-dubh UK-wide result: #4
And our number 5 is the blackbird! This means that despite some small ups and downs in the numbers, our 2019 top 5 perfectly match our 2018 top 5!
Blackbirds breeding is influenced by the weather – so it’s probably been a bit confusing for them recently! The nesting season is also affected by where the birds are nesting, with those in gardens beginning a little earlier with those in woodland.
Find out more about Scotland’s top 10 and how birds fared across the UK here.
Hi Joyce, Blue tits nest in crevices in all sorts of surfaces so this is normal behaviour for them.
I have a pair of Blue tits building a nest behind my roof faschia is this normal ? I had birds there last year but never saw them only heard them pecking so I don't know which birds