We all know that bramblings are really only winter visitors to the UK and that the chances of being lucky enough to see one of them in our gardens outside the winter months are really rather remote.
However, in recent years, according to the RSPB’s Great Bird Watch, the number of sightings of bramblings in our gardens seems to be increasing, which is a wonderful treat due to us Brits becoming more bird-friendly.
Bramblings are medium-sized finches and are really very similar to chaffinches – the male brambling has a distinctive black head in the summer, and an orange and white breast and a yellow bill, which changes to black in the summer.
The females, however, are far less attractive and are often overlooked than the males, except for their rump, which is noticeable by being white!
It appears that many of us have improved our gardens in recent years for the wildlife.
By adding bird feeders and low-bird feeding tables with the bramblings’ favourite seeds and nuts, and by making sure that our gardens are more bird-friendly in general, the numbers of these tiny feathered visitors are increasing quite dramatically.
But are they actually endangered?
The Green Light
For those of you who make me a little sketchy on the three categories of conservation of UK birds, there are three areas of critical importance – red, amber, and green.
Because the brambling is thought of as a species in abundance now and isn’t threatened with extinction, it has a green status here in the UK, and there are no conservation measures in place.
Because birds which are seen regularly in the UK don’t qualify as endangered and due to the fact that the number of bramblings who visit our woodlands and gardens has increased in recent years, they are thought of as relatively safe.
People like us have become more environmentally-friendly and are happy to plant more trees and plants which birds, including bramblings, love.
Beech trees, in particular, are extremely popular with the bramblings, so if you want to continue seeing them pop up for a feed in your garden, plant a tree or put out some food for the – seeds and nuts are their absolute favourites!
Let’s keep the green light on!
Thanks Walter, keep up the great work you are doing. We have 2 bird feeders in our small garden as my partner and i couldn’t decide which one to get so we got two! We have bullfinches, sparrows, robbins and blue tits (some nesting in our nest box), as well as starlings, crows, magpies and the odd blackbird. We also have 7 grey squirrels that everyone is complaining about. Thanks, Trevor