🔍 Overview A colourful and acrobatic garden favourite across Sussex. Found in almost any habitat with trees and shrubs, especially fond of garden feeders. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Small (11–12 cm) Plumage: Blue, yellow, white, and green Distinctive Marks: Blue cap, white face with black eye stripe Bill: Short and stubby Tail: Short Flight:...
🔍 Overview Elegant and long-legged, the Black-tailed Godwit is a regular visitor to Sussex wetlands. Numbers peak during passage and winter, with flocks frequenting Pulborough Brooks and Adur Valley. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Large wader (40–44 cm)Plumage: Grey in winter; rich orange and patterned in breeding seasonDistinctive Marks: Bold black tail, white wing barBill:...
🔍 Overview A reedbed specialist with a misleading name—more closely related to larks than tits. A scarce breeder and winter visitor in Sussex. 🪶 Key Identification Features Male: Ginger body, black “moustache,” blue-grey head Female: Warmer brown, lacks facial markings Other: Long tail, bouncing flight, constant tail-flicking 🗺️ Habitat & Distribution Resident in large reedbeds...
🔍 Overview A small Arctic-breeding swan, seen in Sussex on winter migration. Scarcer than Whooper Swan. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Smaller than Mute Swan Bill: Short yellow patch near the base (rounded compared to Whooper) Other: Neat neck, sociable in flocks 🗺️ Habitat & Distribution Occasional at Amberley Wild Brooks, Pulborough Brooks, and Pagham...
📍 Local Expert Tip ” Black Redstarts are passage birds, especially in Autumn can be seen along the tops of the Downs especially where there are farm buildings. A few individuals may winter with Shoreham Fort and around the beach huts and groynes at Widewater being favoured locations.” 🔍 Overview A scarce migrant and winter visitor...
🔍 Overview A graceful marsh tern seen on migration in spring and autumn. Not a regular breeder in the UK. 🪶 Key Identification Features Breeding: Smoky-black body, grey wings Non-breeding: Pale grey above, white below, dusky breast sides Other: Slender, buoyant flyer 🗺️ Habitat & Distribution Passes through Sussex during April–May and August–October. Look for...
🔍 Overview The most familiar gull in Sussex, especially around coastal towns, wetlands, and inland reservoirs. Not truly black-headed – its breeding plumage features a chocolate-brown hood. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium (35–39 cm) Plumage: White with grey wings, dark head in summer Distinctive Marks: Red bill and legs, white wing tips Bill: Slim,...
🔍 Overview Delicate and graceful, the Arctic Tern is a long-distance migrant famous for its epic pole-to-pole journey. Every year, Arctic Terns migrate from the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle—a round-trip journey of about 30,000 kilometers. It is known as the ‘sea swallow’ because of its long tail streamers. In Sussex, it’s mainly seen...
🔍 Overview Striking and elegant, the Avocet is a rare but iconic wader in Sussex, most commonly spotted at coastal wetlands and saltmarshes. With its upturned bill and bold black-and-white plumage, it’s a conservation success story in the UK. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Medium (43–45 cm) Plumage: Clean black and white Distinctive Marks: Black...
🔍 Overview Fairly common winter visitor and passage migrant. Elegant and slender, the Bar-tailed Godwit is a regular passage and winter visitor to Sussex’s coastal mudflats, especially around Goring Gap, Widewater, Worthing Beaches and Lower Adur Valley. 🪶 Key Identification Features Size: Large wader (37–41 cm)Plumage: Warm brown and buff; breeding males show rich chestnut underpartsDistinctive...
