The other statements are FALSE. Females have longer bills, the Eurasian Oystercatcher sadly IS a species of conservation concern (on the amber list), and females do participate in courtship displays!

Now for my bonus question: According to a BTO paper, what percentage of Eurasian Oystercatchers survive to at least one year of age? The answer is approximately 50%!

This is according to the below publication on the BTO Website: https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/publications/van_de_pol_et_al._2014_international_wader_studies.pdf

***

It was a slightly dour Tuesday afternoon. Windier than one might expect in Spring, if you don’t live in the UK. I had everything I needed for the day – camera, binoculars, passion. I pulled down the legs of my tripod as I exited the carpark, to be greeted, almost immediately, by the Surrey church I was here to scan for signs of apex life.

I had seen one of these birds of prey here before, only, at the time, my video camera didn’t have the best of zooms. I wanted to take a proper photo, get a better clip, of the bird that made such brilliant use of the ridges and ledges of this old, revered building. I wanted a unique glimpse into just one small moment of this bird’s life.

‘What are you getting, the falcons?’ an older lady asked me.

Another older woman I had encountered moments previously thought I had been looking at the scattering of Pigeons staggered across the ledges, so it was nice to know that at least one of the locals knew that they had an awe-inspiring bird of prey right on their community centre’s doorstep.

I was being conspicuous with my big old camera and tripod, but that last comment helped me to feel more confident in standing my ground. The bird species I was here to find is always, and I mean always worth stopping for, regardless of whether you’d consider yourself a birder or not.

This is the fastest animal in the world whilst stooping. They are mighty raptors that have set talon on and laid claim to a great many of our churches, monasteries and hospital buildings across the UK. They are fierce hunters. They are (usually) gentle parents. This bird needs no introduction, but boy, does it deserve many. It is, of course, the Peregrine Falcon.

This was the bird I had come to see. And, after about ten minutes, I did spot one – a male, tucked into a corner at the very top of the church, just at the base of the spire. For most of that first hour, desperately trying to capture a little footage, his face was blocked by the ruffling of a few of his feathers in the wind. I tried shifting left and right to get more of his face, but not much seemed to help. And my tripod was not able to accommodate how bloomin’ high up he was!

EVENTUALLY, he shifted, giving me a better look at his profile. He began gently preening himself, like a blushing schoolgirl with a crush on the popular jock in class. If it weren’t for the speck of flesh on his sharp, hooked beak, I could easily have been fooled into thinking this apex predator wouldn’t harm a fly…

But they would. Not flies, typically, but other birds for the most part – they love a plump Pigeon. They stoop after their prey at incredible speeds of up to 200 miles per hour (allegedly – more on that later), earning them that impressive, shiny title of the world’s fastest bird.

When it comes to their biology, females are approximately 30% bigger than their male counterparts. The Peregrine I saw – above – is a male, so is nowhere near as large as this species can get! The ranges in weight and wingspan – from 600 to 1300g and from 95 to 115cm, according to the RSPB – is indicative of this sex-based difference.

In the UK at least, Peregrine Falcons live for an average of six years, but, according to the Hawk and Owl Trust, the oldest wild bird found on record lived to the ripe old age of nearly 22!

Peregrines usually lay either three or four eggs every year, and have taken to nesting on the tall buildings of urban areas, which mimic their natural nesting nurseries on clifftops.

Male incubation periods vary based on the interest of individuals – some are happy to partake in this duty, others less so. From one live camera in Australia, I witnessed a male very much not want to hand the role back over to the female when she returned from her break. Eventually, he would hop off the nest, but only reluctantly and/or after she’d been screaming at him to pluck off for several minutes.

It is this variation of behaviour between individual birds, especially Peregrines, that I find so fascinating.

Whilst they’re all over our cities today, Peregrines, like Red Kites, were once persecuted, intensively so. For Peregrines, a lot of their decline in the 1960s came down to the use of pesticides, which would thin the shells of their eggs through the effects of the food chain – the chemicals passed down from their herbivorous and insectivorous prey species.

Now for some nourishing notes. Here are some of the vocalisations of these silver scythes of the sky:

Credit goes to my guest of this week’s newsletter, Sean McCormack, for the audio! Towards the end of the (slightly shortened) recording you’ll hear the ‘chupping’ noises a pair of Peregrines typically make whilst bonding with each other.

***

So. Before we move onto some recent Peregrine news, and after that, onto this biweek’s podcast, here’s a clip of my pal maintaining the quality of his feathers. All birds do this to clean, realign and maintain the quality of their feathers. For these apex predators in particular, the condition of their flight feathers is incredibly important.

Now for some interesting news!

Whilst it is not unheard of for Peregrines to lay five eggs in a clutch, it is uncommon. However, this year, the pair of Peregrines in Woking, monitored by the Woking Peregrine Project, have produced just this number. Whilst this news is positive on the face of it, if all five hatch, the demands of that extra beak may make things a little more difficult for the parents.

But we shall see how it all unfolds. Make sure you’re following the project by watching the live camera on their website.

***

To rope in another voice to talk more about this special, special bird, I had a chat with vet, ecologist, wildlife expert, writer and incredibly generous human being, Sean McCormack, founder and chair of Ealing Wildlife Group, and project leader for the Ealing Beavers! Enjoy :)

Did you learn lots from our chat? Are you interested to learn more about Sean’s work? You can follow him (@thatvetsean) on Instagram here!

*Small note – when I say Peregrines are found on every continent, I did mean to add except for Antarctica! 👆

Below are some pictures of Dusty and Freddie from atop Ealing Hospital! Credit goes to Sean and the rest of the Ealing Wildlife Group for the below photos.

Learn more about Ealing Wildlife Group by clicking here, and more about Freddie and Dusty by following this link.

If you love other wildlife – although I agree, birds are best – do take a look at the work of the Ealing Beaver Project, and consider booking on to a guided tour or safari!

Fancy seeing what Dusty and Freddie (and their newly hatched chicks, at time of publication) are up to? Watch them live here! 👇

Finally, to wrap up, I have some Peregrine questions for you!

1. Multiple choice – which two facts are correct?
   A. Male Peregrines are called Tiercels
   B. Peregrines have been known to kill other birds of prey, including Buzzards!
   C. Peregrines will eat vegetation if in need
   D. Sibling rivalry is strong and common in Peregrine chicks

2. a. True or false – Peregrines can spot their prey from a distance of more than three kilometres away

   b. And, finally – How many times stronger is a Peregrine’s eyesight than our own?

Time for me to go. But as I do, I’ll leave you on yet another meme:

Learn more:
1. https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/peregrine-falcon
2. https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/peregrine
3. https://www.hertswildlifetrust.org.uk/blog/peregrine-falcon-faqs
4. https://www.hawkandowltrust.org/learn-and-discover/about-birds-of-prey/peregrine
5. https://www.howitworksdaily.com/the-peregrine-falcon-inspired-aircraft/
6. https://www.raptoraid.com/conservation-2/rodenticides-amp-pesticides
7. https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/birds/peregrine-falcon-facts

But let’s wader quick minute. Time to reveal the answer to my last newsletter’s Red Kite question. The two false answers were A. Male Red Kites are slightly bigger than their female counterparts and B. Red Kites are smaller than Buzzards.

They are often mobbed by corvids, and do typically mate for life!

***

Now, today, let us fly over to a creature of the seas and of mudflats. To a hallmark of the British coastline. To a staple of British birding. This wader really seems to know it is special, strutting across beaches like a lifeguard with a part-time modelling gig. This bird is, and could only be, the Eurasian Oystercatcher, otherwise known as Haematopus Ostralegus!

Our Oystercatcher is probably one of the UK’s most visually striking waders – black and white, with an orange bill and peachy-pink legs. They also have blood red eyes, making them look like a psychopathic Pingu – if the character was a wader, rather than a plasticine penguin.

Despite its name, this bird does not usually opt for oysters. To be fair, why would you, if there’s better around? I think even a lot of us humans would agree that oysters are an acquired taste!

Instead, Oystercatchers prefer cockles, muscles and other shellfish, plus worms and snails found buried in bucketloads in mudflats. They use their carrot-shaped bills to prise open shells and drill deeply into the mud to nab and snack on their unfortunate finds.

Whilst they are coastal birds, the RSPB says more and more have been starting to breed inland over the past five decades.

I must admit, I did not know an awful lot about this bird until I... waded through a few sources. But the Eurasian Oystercatcher really is extraordinary.

According to the RSPB and BTO, in the UK, we have about 95,000 to 96,000 breeding pairs, and in Winter our population is boosted to about 305,000 individuals. Sadly, however, there has overall been a 21% decrease in their numbers from 1995 to 2023.

Eurasian Oystercatchers weigh approximately 430-650g and have wingspans of between 80 and 86cm. Pairs tend to be very monogamous!

When it comes to communication, they make very strange, fluttering, peeping noises, a bit like a child playing the recorder, unable to yet grasp a note. Just listen to their comfortingly chaotic call:

(C) Lawrence Shove, CC-BY.

These solidly built birds lay just the one clutch of two to three olive eggs – with accompanying black splotches – every year. Both parents help out with incubation.

Their nests are essentially glorified scrapes, that are, as with most waders, made on the ground. You wouldn’t think that this the best – or most comfortable – breeding strategy, but hey ho. Who are we to judge? Their nests are stable at least, unlike the messy crumbling chaotic bundles of twigs bursting from tree branches that belong to feral and wood pigeons.

Oystercatcher eggs blend in well with beach pebbles, as you can see in the photo above.

Chicks will burst out of their shells after around 24-27 days. The average lifespan of a Eurasian Oystercatcher is 12 years, however, several wild birds have survived for longer than that… for over 40 years! Imagine that.

It may not be new news, but the oldest bird on record reached AT LEAST 43 years of age last year!

***

For this newsletter, and in honour of this very charismatic bird, I also had a chat with wonderful writer and dear friend, Vanessa Wright:

I hope you learned a lot! I shore did! Vanessa has also had a piece out on these butter-wouldn’t-melt birds in the January 2026 edition of Bird Watching Magazine. Do check it out! You can also follow her Instagram account (@elgeeko1506) here.

Here are two brilliant photos she sent me. One of her with a chick in Iceland – just LOOK at that fluffball – and another of XJ, her favourite ringed pal! Thanks again , for such an insightful chat.

Quiz time! Which fact about Oystercatchers is correct?
A. There are twelve species of Oystercatcher across the world
B. Oystercatcher males have longer bills
C. The Eurasian Oystercatcher is not a species of conservation concern
D. Females do not participate in courtship displays

Did you think this was the end? Think again! I have another question for you! I know. I’m full of surprises – just like the bird of the moment.
According to a BTO paper, what percentage of Eurasian Oystercatchers survive to at least one year of age?

I shall leave you now with a picture of an Oystercatcher with an expression I think most of us will be able to relate to. See you later! 🪶

Learn more:
1. https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/oystercatcher
2. https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/birds/wading-birds/oystercatcher
3. https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/birds/facts-about-oystercatchers
4. https://eastkent.birdwise.org.uk/protecting-the-birds/oystercatcher-haematopus-ostralegus/
5. https://app.birda.org/species-guide/6380/Eurasian_Oystercatcher
6. https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/oystercatcher

The false statement was… D. Males never help with incubation duties.

Male Pied Wagpals will sit on their eggs from time to time. Good for them.

If we’re going with a Kate Bush theme for this newsletter, he doesn’t just stand outside his woman’s work. He helps, too!

Every other fact is true. Pied Wagtails do sometimes steal nests from other birds (I mean, wouldn’t you, if it saved you a twig or hundred), the oldest ringed individual lived to 11 years and three months, and females… do indeed build their nests alone.

Ah. So much for male domesticity!

***

Now. We’re switching things up a bit for this second edition, and going for a bird of prey – perhaps one of the most elegant and impressive airborne predators this country has to offer.

Let’s set the scene. You’re a passenger in a car trundling along the motorway, off to your favourite nature reserve. Or maybe you just happen to step outside your house and look up at the sky at the perfect time. A slow, stretching shadow crosses your eye line. Raising your head further, the feathered pterodactyl finally comes into full view. Burning eyes of white gold. Ginger, auburn and black streaked feathers. A white head. Flight feathers spread out like the Vashta Nerada from a David Tennant-led Doctor Who story. This is a drifter. A harbinger of other worlds. A symbol of restoration and recovery.

This week’s newsletter is of course… on the Red Kite! That’s Milvus Milvus to those who speak Latin.

This species once nearly went extinct in the UK, due to a level of intense persecution that began in the 1800s and very quickly began to affect population levels. By 1932, only a few breeding pairs were left in Wales. In Elizabethan Britain however, long before such cullings, they were revered. Our very own pest control. I find it strange how quickly the reputation of a species, just like that of a person, can change.

Due to their prevalence now, you wouldn’t think we ever had a shortage of them, especially if you’re of my generation (Gen-Z). These days, they are virtually everywhere – soaring over homes, freewheeling above fields, scanning along major roads looking for carrion...

They’re scavengers – that’s why you’ll often see them along the conveyor belts of death we call motorways. These raptors do kill, but just like many humans, prefer an easy meal. There’s no shame in them ordering their takeaway equivalent from time to time! They’re not fussy, either. Nothing is too small – they’ll happily snack on a worm or two.

What brought them back from near extinction were several reintroduction projects in the 80s and 90s, with dedicated teams bringing over Spanish populations to boost our own. These efforts were met with phenomenal results – we have seen a 2464% increase in our angelic aerial artists between the years of 1995 and 2023.

Clearly, we are nature’s biggest problem. Yet we can also be a solution.

These days, there are around 4,400 pairs of them here in the UK, and thank goodness for that.

***

The Red Kite is incredibly easy to identify once you know what you’re looking for. Their forked tails cannot be missed – effectively, they have their very own rudders, providing a level of manoeuvrability that slalomers of all kinds would envy.

This is the call of a Red Kite – another distinctive identifying feature:

Tanguy Loïs, XC895636, www.xeno-canto.org, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

When it comes to breeding season, both males and females will do the building of the nest – a large platform made of sticks, high up in a tree. Every year, the female will lay two to three eggs, usually just having the one clutch. They take turns incubating – although the female will do most of it.

Sadly, as Kites like to collect all sorts of knick knacks (including even knacks of the knicker kind), more and more plastic is being found in their nests. One man’s trash is a Red Kite’s treasure, but clearly, this ‘treasure’ is their fool’s gold.

Red Kites have an average lifespan of four years, which I’m sure you would agree, is not long enough, but a wild bird once lived up to 29 years of age, only passing away in 2023. Aragon had been brought over from Spain in 1994!

***

Have you ever come across a story so delightful, you couldn’t help but grin like a baby that had just bitten into its first bit of chocolate? A few weeks ago, a Red Kite was photographed clutching a sausage roll, tucking into it whilst in flight. My mind often drifts along many a mental river, this one leading me to wonder where it may have picked it up. From the floor somewhere, probably, but the image of a Red Kite swooping down and plucking it from a man’s hands is much funnier. So that is what I imagine happened. You can find the story and the photograph from Mark Hopkins here.

It’s interview time! I had to find a very special guest to match such a special bird. So, here I am, in conversation with the ridiculously knowledgeable Stephen Moss. We had quite the chat. Enjoy!

I hope you had as much fun listening as I had participating in this conversation!

You can follow Stephen on Twitter: https://x.com/StephenMoss_TV

Do also be sure to take a look at some of his Birdwatch columns in The Guardian. His writing teems with gorgeous language and arresting insight.

Now. Here we are. At the end. Time for your biweekly bird-brain teaser. That’s not an insult! Birds have very intelligent brains.

Which two statements about Red Kites are false:
A. Male Red Kites are slightly bigger than their female counterparts
B. Red Kites are smaller than Buzzards
C. They are often mobbed by corvids
D. Red Kites typically mate for life

The next time you go out, look up at the sky. It probably won’t take long before these marvels of nature grace you with their presence.

I shall leave you on another meme. See you in the next one!

Learn more:
1. https://www.hawkandowltrust.org/learn-and-discover/about-birds-of-prey/red-kite
2. https://www.countryfile.com/wildlife/birds/red-kite-guide
3. https://www.chilterns.org.uk/our-landscape/nature-wildlife/red-kites/
4. https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/birds/birds-prey/red-kite
5. https://www.birdguides.com/news/oldest-known-british-red-kite-dies/
6. https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/red-kite
7. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/jun/08/red-kites-reintroduction

Hello Dear Reader, and welcome to Inside the Hide Birding, a bi-weekly Substack newsletter, full of birding facts, fun titbits and my very own photographs. My fortnightly avian profiles will take you on a virtual tour across various habitats to see all of the brilliant, brainy and most baffling birds of the British Isles. I’m on a mission of two parts: to show how our most common birds are taken for granted and to raise awareness of the species that haven’t yet reached legendary status in our nation’s collective consciousness.

Spoiler alert: all of our birds deserve a special spot in our hearts.

Amy x

***

Picture this. You’re perched on a bench at a Surrey train station, or walking along a high street pavement, trapped in that despondent state of mind where life itself seems eternally frozen. From the corner of your cornea, you catch a glimpse of a small, scurrying creature, with a long tail tipping up and down, transforming itself into a tiny teapot. Upon closer inspection, you realise that this is a bird. But what species?

Maybe there is a flake of pastry next to your foot. Perhaps you’ve accidentally dropped a crisp on the floor. Ever-so quickly, the bird scuttles so close to you that you fear you may accidentally step on whatever it is that was brave enough to approach you. Then the bird veers off, like a toddler who has been caught stealing a biscuit from the cupboard.

My first bird of choice is, of course, the Pied Wagtail, whose Latin name is Motacilla Alba Yarelli. When you catch a glimpse of these small black, grey and white blobs, bobbing about as though at some sort of silent disco, the thoughts that come to you might be that these birds are cheeky, speedy, opportunistic and ultimately, rather adorable.

You would be correct on all counts.

Pied Wagtails may be mostly insectivorous, but they have also become somewhat accustomed to discarded human food over the centuries, which has lured them ever-closer to humanity’s side. This tiny bird also only weighs between 17 and 25 grams, so every crumb of food helps, no matter how small!

There are three species of Wagtail in the UK (sometimes four, as we get White Wagtails from time to time – which the Pied Wagtail is actually a sub-species of). Our primary wags, though – not to be confused with footballers’ wives – are Pied, Grey and Yellow Wagtails. The latter member of this dancing family has seen a real decline over the years; as such, I have only been fortunate enough to have seen Grey and Pied Wagtails in my two-and-a-half decades on this planet.

The most notable of Wagtail features, aside from their bouncing butts, is appearing always distracted, constantly changing their routes across pavements and roads on sheer whim, in stumbling, bumbling spurts of energy.

Males typically have darker backs than their female counterparts, the ladies of this species instead usually having mantles (the area between the nape and the back) more the colour of storm clouds. However, there can be a degree of variation between individuals, and White Wagtails all have grey backs – so be careful when trying to identify both the species and sex of an individual. Juveniles are also greyer in appearance.

There are around 505,000 pairs of Pied Wagtails in the UK, though there is mixed data on population changes. According to the BTO (British Trust of Ornithology), there was a 35% increase in the species between the years of 1967 to 2023, predominantly occurring up until the mid-seventies. However, just looking at the data between 1995 and 2023, Songbird Survival say there has been a decline of 22%. Clearly, recent years have been unkind to our precious pavement dwellers.

The humble Pied Wagtail also likes to roost in numbers. According to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, these communal roost sites can include up to 4,000 members! Two’s company, three’s a crowd clearly does not apply to the Pied Wagtail!

When it comes to nesting, their breeding season is between April and May, and they usually have two clutches (broods) of five or six teeny-tiny eggs every year. Pied Wagtails have an average lifespan of two years, but one wild bird lived for a good while longer than that. Hold onto that thought – we’ll come back to it later.

This is one of the most common calls of the Pied Wagtail – you’ll often hear it when they are in flight:

(C) Lawrence Shove, CC-BY.

When searching for recent news on Pied Wagtails though, I came up shorter than their stature – possibly due to their inability to stay still long enough to be observed for a decent chunk of time, or maybe because too few people have appreciated them deeply enough to observe them closely. However, should you wish to attract these feathered seesaws to your garden, there has been an article published a couple of weeks ago in Ideal Home, containing some handy tips.

In the weeks ahead, I will be interviewing several bird nerds and experts on their experiences with a specific species of British bird. But for now, you will have to suffer through a few minutes of me talking about the Pied Wagtail with my Dad, and what the species means to us.

Now, here’s a little challenge for you – not to fear, it’s only a multiple choice question.

Which fact about Pied Wagtails is false?
A. Pied Wagtails sometimes use old nests instead of building a new one from scratch (a bit lazy of them)
B. The oldest Pied Wagtail lived to the age of 11 years and three months
C. Females build their nests alone
D. Males never help with incubation duties

I will leave you on a note of tomfoolery – two pictures of the same Pied Wagtail, with a funny caption underneath.

Learn more:
1. https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/piedwhite-wagtail
2. https://sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/species-of-the-day-pied-wagtail
3. https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/pied-wagtail
4. https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/birds/larks-sparrows-pipits-wagtails-and-dunnock/pied-wagtail
5. https://www.songbird-survival.org.uk/songbirds/pied-wagtail
6. https://www.hiwwt.org.uk/news/10-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-pied-wagtails
7. https://www.vinehousefarm.co.uk/birds/pied-wagtail