The willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) is a very common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe and the Palearctic. It is strongly migratory, with almost all of the population wintering in Sub-Saharan Africa. ]Willow Warblers are summer visitors, appearing in the UK from about late March or early April after having spent the winter in Africa, south

The barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) is the most widespread species of swallow in the world.  It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts and a long, deeply forked tail. It is found in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. There are six subspecies of barn swallow, which breed across the Northern Hemisphere. Four are

The wheatears are passerine birds of the genus Oenanthe. They were formerly considered to be members of the thrush family, Turdidae, but are now more commonly placed in the flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. The name “wheatear” is not derived from “wheat” or any sense of “ear”, but is a folk etymology of “white” and “arse”, referring to the prominent white rump found in most species. The genus

The Sandwich tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis) is a tern in the family Laridae. It is a medium-large tern with grey upperparts, white underparts, a yellow-tipped black bill and a shaggy black crest which becomes less extensive in winter with a white crown. Its short legs are black. Its upperwings are pale grey and its underparts white, and this

Numenius phaeopus (Linnaeus, 1758) Family: Charadriiformes > Scolopacidae Whimbrel is a smaller version of the Curlew, with a shorter, straighter then down-curved bill and pale crown-stripe. The ‘seven-whistle’ call is diagnostic. This elegant wader has a very restricted UK breeding range, with a small population nesting mostly in Shetland. Birds start to arrive back on territory from

The common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) is a small Palearctic wader. This bird and its American sister species, the spotted sandpiper (A. macularia), make up the genus Actitis. They are parapatric and replace each other geographically; stray birds of either species may settle down with breeders of the other and hybridize. Hybridization has also been reported

The sedge warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It is a medium-sized warbler 11.5–13 cm (4.5–5.1 in) long and weighing around 12 g (0.42 oz) with a brown, streaked back and wings and a distinct pale supercilium. The plumage of the sexes is identical. Sedge warblers are migratory, crossing the Sahara to get from their European and Asian breeding grounds to spend winter in Africa. The sedge

The common grasshopper warbler (Locustella naevia) is a small passerine bird found in short dense vegetation, often close to water. It is a medium-sized warbler about 13 cm (5 in) long. The adult has a streaked brown back and whitish grey underparts which are unstreaked except on the undertail coverts. The sexes are identical, as with most warblers, but young birds

The common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals. This species is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and Asia, and winters in Africa. It is a brood parasite, which means it lays eggs in the nests of other bird

The common whitethroat (Curruca communis) is a common and widespread typical warbler which breeds throughout Europe and across much of temperate western Asia. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, and winters in tropical Africa, Arabia, and Pakistan. This is one of several Curruca species that has distinct male and female plumages. Both sexes are mainly brown above and buff below, with chestnut fringes to the secondary remiges. The adult male has a