GameBirds

BACK TO BRITISH BIRDS

Black Grouse	Collard Dove	Corncrake	Cuckoo	Dotterel	Golden Plover	Great Spotted Woodpecker	Green Woodpecker
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker	Grey Partridge	Kingfisher	Nightjar	Quail	Pheasant	Ptarmigan	Red Legged Partridge
Ringed Plover	Stock Dove	Swift	Turtle Dover	Water Rail	Willow Grouse	Wood Pigeon

GAME BIRDS & NON PASSERINES

Distribution:Found in upland areas of Wales, the Pennines and most of Scotland.

Habitat:Best looked for on farmland and moorland with nearby forestry or scattered trees. They have traditional 'lek' sites where the males display.

Diet:Buds, shoots, catkins and berries.

Streptopelia decaocto

Distribution:Widespread resident over most of Britain and Ireland.

Habitat:Collared doves are found largely around man, on farms, in gardens and parks, and most of the countryside except the highest regions.

Diet:The Collared Dove feeds mainly on cereal grain and small seeds on the ground, but will also eat berries in the autumn and, more rarely, caterpillars and aphids in the spring.

Distribution:A summer visitor between April and September,the best place to look for or listen for them in the UK is in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. In Ireland, the best place to hear the birds is the island of Inishbofin, Galway, off the coast of County Galway.

Habitat:Breeds in hay meadows, nettle-patches and damp pasture.

Diet:Insects and seeds.

Cuculus canorus

Distribution:A summer visitor between April and August,Cuckoos can be seen throughout the UK, but are especially numerous in southern and central England.

Habitat:Occupies a broad variety of habitats, including all types of woodland, marshes, heaths and alpine areas.

Diet:Caterpillars and other insects such as beetles and ants form the major part of the Cuckoo's diet.

Cuculus canorus

Distribution:In summer found only on Scotland's high tops. Best looked for on spring and autumn migration.

Habitat:In summer found only on Scotland's high tops.

Diet:Insects and worms

Pluvialis apricaria

Distribution:In summer they inhabit upland moorlands in the S Uplands and Highlands of Scotland, the Western and Northern Isles, the Peak District, N Yorkshire, Wales and Devon. In winter they move to lowland fields, forming large flocks, often in the company of lapwings.

Habitat:Tundra, wet moor, on migration pasture & estuaries

Diet:Worms and beetles

Dendrocopos major

Distribution:Not found in the far North of Scotland. Only a handful of pairs nest in Ireland, but numbers are increasing. Common in England and Wales.

Habitat:Woodlands, especially with mature broad-leaved trees, although mature conifers will support them. Also in parks and large gardens.

Diet:Insects, seeds and nuts.

Distribution:England, Wales and Scotland, although absent from the far north and west and not in N Ireland.

Habitat:Mainly a lowland species that breeds in open deciduous woodland, parks, orchards and farmland.

Diet:Insects, especially ants

Dendrocopos minor

Distribution:In the UK, it is mainly limited to the south with the highest density of population occurring in the south-east of England. Lesser spotted woodpeckers do not breed in Scotland or on islands, such as the Isle of Wight, (although they are found on the Channel Islands) and they are absent from Ireland. In northern England, the lesser spotted is extremely local in Yorkshire, rare in Lancashire and in Wales scattered pairs occur apart from in the far west.

Habitat:You can find it in open woods, copses, parkland, gardens and orchards, but it tends to frequent the tops of trees, searching for larvae, spiders and wood-boring insects on smaller branches.

Diet:Insects and spiders.

Distribution:They are traditionally found in lowland arable areas of Great Britain from the chalk areas in the south, into East Anglia, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, reaching into the north of England and the East of Scotland as far as Aberdeenshire.

Habitat: A resident farmland bird the grey partridge inhabits lowland arable areas.

Diet:Leaves, seeds and insects

Distribution:Found through out England, Wales and Ireland but not in Scotland.

Habitat: Kingfishers are found by still or slow flowing water such as lakes, canals and rivers in lowland areas.

Diet:Fish and aquatic insects.Nightjar

Caprimulgus europaeus

Distribution:A summer visitor. Most numerous in southern England with good numbers in the New Forest, Dorset and Surrey heathlands, and Thetford forest in Suffolk. Also found in parts of Wales, northern England and SW Scotland.

Habitat: Found on heathlands, moorlands, in open woodland with clearings, and in recently felled conifer plantations.

Diet:Insects - moths and beetles.

Coturnix coturnix

Distribution:A summer visitor. Wiltshire and Dorset, and in good years the Welsh Marches, East Anglia, low-lying parts of northern England and parts of southern Scotland

Habitat: Breeds in arable fields and long grass.

Diet:Quail feed on the seeds of plants, such as poppy, wheat and barley, and less often insects and larvae of ants, beetles.

Phasianus colchicus

Distribution:Across most of the UK, apart from the far north and west of Scotland. Least common in upland and urban.

Habitat:Usually seen in the open countryside near woodland edges, copses and hedgerows.

Diet:Pheasants have a varied diet which they forage for on the ground and occasionally in trees. Typically, the diet is seeds, berries, insects, worms, grass and fruit.

Distribution:The only place to see it is on the highest mountains of the highlands of Scotland.

Habitat:The highest mountains of the Highlands of Scotland on the Arctic like landscape there.

Diet:Shoots, leaves, leaf buds, berries and insects.

Distribution:Most numerous in England, especially in the east, with some birds in the Welsh borders and in eastern Scotland.

Habitat:Usually seen on farmland, scrub and sand dunes.

Diet:Leaves, roots and seeds of grasses, cereals and weeds.

Charadrius hiaticula

Distribution:You can see this species on suitable beaches and coasts all around the UK

Habitat:Breeds on shingle or sand by the coast and occasionally on inland sites such as gravel pits.

Diet:Flies, spiders, marine worms, crustaceans, molluscs.

Distribution:They are widely distributed in the UK, except for parts of northern Scotland and Ireland, with particularly high densities in the English Midlands and South West.

Habitat:Look in parkland, along woodland edges, and by quarries and cliffs. In winter, look for small flocks feeding on farmland stubbles.

Diet:Stock Doves eat seed, leaves, buds, berries and grain. They will visit a bird table.

Distribution:Common summer visitor everywhere except the far north and western Scotland.

Habitat:Open country & towns usually seen flying high in the sky.

Diet:They feed exclusively on spiders (carried on the wind) and insects caught on the wing.

Streptopelia turtur

Distribution:A summer vistor. It is mainly a bird of southern and eastern England, although it does reach as far as Wales.

Habitat:Best looked for in woodland edges, hedgerows and open land with scattered bushes.

Diet:Turtle Doves feed almost entirely on the fruits and seeds of wild flowers and cereals, such as buttercup and chickweed.

Rallus aquaticus

Distribution:Widely but thinly distributed as breeding birds across the UK, but absent from upland areas. Most abundant in Eastern England and suitable habitat along the south coast.

Habitat:Marshes, swamps, bogs and reedy lake margins

Diet:Omnivorous - mainly small fish, snails and insects.

Lagopus lagopus

Distribution:Found in highland areas of central and northen England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Rare in southern England though have been seen on the moors of Devon and Cornwall.

Habitat:Willow grouse are birds of the northern pine and birch forests, heather tundra and mountain slopes

Diet:Shoots, leaves, leaf buds, berries and insects.

Columba palumbus

Distribution:Found across the UK.

Habitat:Fields and woods, and also in towns and cities where they frequent parks and gardens.

Diet:Crops like cabbages, sprouts, peas and grain. Also buds, shoots, seeds, nuts and berries.