Best British Bird

Unlike many countries around the world, the UK doesn’t have an official national bird. Broadcaster and bird enthusiast David Lindo, otherwise known as the Urban Birder, has launched a campaign to get people voting for the bird they think should represent Britain. He’s written a great article about choosing a national bird HERE.

The choice of bird has been whittled down to ten candidates: the mute swan, kingfisher, robin, blue tit, puffin, red kite, wren, blackbird, barn owl and hen harrier. If you want to hear what each of these birds sounds like, click HERE for a BBC Radio 4 recording of them all. You might be surprised by some of them!

Harry Potter fans might well choose the barn owl as our national bird!
Photo ©Peter Trimming

So which of these lovely birds do you think deserves the title? They are all very different, ranging from the tiny blue tit to the imposing swan. Each one is beautiful in its own way, and while some are very familiar, like the robin and blackbird, others are rare and special, like the red kite and the kingfisher.

The red kite is a bird of prey that has recently been reintroduced in England and Scotland.   The photo above was taken in Wales. Photo ©Tim Felce.

Some of them are birds of prey, like the owl and hen harrier, which hunt small animals or other birds. Kingfishers, of course, eat fish. Other smaller birds eat only berries and seeds, so they are vegetarian and peaceful creatures. Should this be a consideration as we choose a bird to represent our nation?

Kingfishers are very striking, and there are seven different sub-species around the world in a wide range of colours. This is the common kingfisher which we see in the UK.
Photo ©Andreas Trepte

Setting the issue of character aside, should we choose the bird that is most widely seen across the UK, or one that is distinctive and rare? Until now, the robin has held a special place in people’s hearts, and has been our unofficial national bird. Will the public make this official?

The Victorians loved to put robins on Christmas cards. In the 1960s the robin was voted Britain’s unofficial national bird. Photo ©Francis C. Franklin

I haven’t decided which one I’ll vote for yet. If I were choosing on the basis of looks, I would go for the sweet little blue tit, or the handsome kingfisher.

The blue tit is not only pretty, it also eats aphids and other insect pests that destroy our plants. Photo ©Maximilian Dorsch

As you may have noticed from some of my books, I am also a big fan of the puffin. (I seem to write quite a lot about birds, including penguins and flamingos, but neither of those is very British!)

This little bird has a special place in my heart!
Photo ©Richard Bartz

Lewis the puffin, illustrated by Gabby Grant.

Check out Lewis Clowns Around, Harris the Hero and Skye the Puffling for more puffin fun!