bird

Garden birds in Devon are counting on you!

The world’s largest garden wildlife survey returns this month, with hundreds of thousands of people watching and counting the UK’s garden birds over the last weekend in January for the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch.

Over half a million people took part in 2023, counting more than nine million birds. In Devon, nearly 10,900 people took part, with the House Sparrow taking the top spot as...

Rare bird sighting at Colyford Common

Late last year, a very rare bird to the UK turned up at Colyford Common, part of Seaton Wetlands.

For only the second time in recorded history, the isabelline wheatear has been seen in Devon. The first time it was ever seen on mainland Britain was on Lundy Island in October 2019 for a single day.

The isabelline wheatear is a thrush-sized bird, closely related to the northern...

White Sparrow

Rare white sparrow discovered by Heligan

A rare bird has been discovered in a Cornish garden. Polgooth resident Barry Hitchens was puzzled by an unusual looking, small, white plumed bird visiting his garden and called experts at the nearby Lost Gardens of Heligan to investigate.

The Heligan team identified the garden visitor as a rare leucistic sparrow. From a distance the sparrow looks completely white but upon closer...

What-what is a ne-ne?

Two ne-ne have hatched at Paignton Zoo in Devon. But what-what is a ne-ne?

It’s a species of goose - one of the rarest in the world. Found on the Hawaiian Islands, the Hawaiian goose or ne-ne is named after its call, a soft neh-neh sound.

It’s officially classed as Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Paignton Zoo is home to eight adult ne-ne as...

Living Coasts wades in to help lost bird

An injured wading bird has been rescued and given safe haven at Living Coasts in Devon.

Torquay’s coastal zoo and aquarium can provide the ideal estuary habitat for the whimbrel, now thought to be the only one in a public zoological collection in the UK.

The adult female bird was found on a roadside in Cornwall by a passing member of the public. She was taken to Rosevean...

Bird expert banks on success in South Africa

A bird expert has travelled from South Devon to South Africa to help save an endangered African seabird. And within days of arriving, Living Coasts Senior Head Keeper Lois Rowell has found herself hand-rearing precious chicks.

Lois, an experienced bird keeper practiced in the delicate art of hand-rearing, is spending six weeks working with bank cormorants. She is helping SANCCOB, a...