Passeriformes

Passeriformes or songbirds more or less cover about half of the birds known in the western Palearctic. We call them songbirds because the majority of them has the ability to produce rather melodic singing and calling.

Most of us know at least some songbirds, because they tend to live close to our homes. The songbird families best known are pigeons and doves, swallows and martins, larks, tits, crows, starlings, sparrows and finches. These bird families are cultural followers of man and we can find them in and about human settlements. We can watch them in yards, gardens and parks. And, believe it or not, cemetries, graveyards or church yards, whatever you may call it, are perfect places to watch all these birds in a perfectly silent and undisturbed environment.

Available Species Accounts

Under this headline I am going to place links to species accounts, giving some basic information on the species and also images. This section is thought to grow, so just stay tuned.

• Dunnock (Prunella [modularis] modularis)
• European Robin (Erithacus [rubecula] rubecula )
• Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)
• White Wagtail (Motacilla [alba] alba)
• Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)
• Common Blackbird (Turdus merula)
• Great Tit (Parus major)
• Eurasian Blue Tit (Parus [caeruleus] caeruleus)
• Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
• House Sparrow (Passer [domesticus] domesticus)
• Italian Sparrow (Passer [domesticus] italieae)
• Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
• European Greenfinch (Carduelis [chloris] chloris)

Using Bird Tables

Why is using bird tables a good idea? Simply because with bird tables we can support birds during autumn, winter and early spring with food, especially at a time when food is in short supply. This is even more importing in snowy winters when it is most difficult for birds to find food at all.

However, it must also be stated that even during breeding season supportive bird feedings are more than necessary as we should realise that natural food is more and more becoming hard to come by for birds. With additional bird feeding stations during spring and summer, we simply provide more food to enable birds raising their young and to prepare for the coming winter.

Especially in urban areas bird feeding stations help birds to live in more and more hostile environments and the effects of climate change which do not stop in housing areas. Besides, bird tables have the positive side effect that birds, over time, will flock around the feeding stations and enable us to watch them. Though setting up bird feedings is easily done but it takes at least a day before the first birds arrive. Over a longer period it is also possible that more and more species find out about the feeding station and start arriving there.