Last updated: 13 March 2022
Black and white birds are very common in our gardens in the UK. Identifying which species of bird the black and white visitor to your garden is can be tricky, though. In fact, even veteran bird watchers with years of experience can struggle to identify these birds.
Below, we have descriptions of all the black and white birds that call the UK home to help you find out which ones may be in your garden. We have all the common culprits like magpies and coal tits, as well as slightly rarer black and white birds like the lesser spotted woodpecker.
Pica pica
Close up of a perched Magpie
Magpies are one of the most easily recognisable bird species, by both their plumage and chattering call
Young Magpie with a grasshopper in its beak
Close up of a Magpie in flight
Magpie coming in to land
Magpies are common in gardens throughout the UK and Europe
Magpie harassing a Golden Eagle
Magpies in the UK are year-round residents
Length:
46cm to 60cm
Wingspan:
52cm to 60cm
Weight:
160g to 250g
Magpie alarm call
Simon Elliott, XC599983. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/599983.
Magpies are one of the most common black and white birds in the UK. They have mostly black and white feathers covering their bodies, but their tails and wings also have bluey, green, purple iridescent feathers too. Their beautiful iridescent wing and tail feathers are the easiest way to identify a magpie.
Motacilla alba
Length:
18cm
Wingspan:
25cm to 30cm
Weight:
17g to 25g
Pied Wagtail call
Simon Elliott, XC596086. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/596086.
Pied wagtails can be found all across the UK, but they are more common in northern areas of Scotland. They tend to flock and gather in large roosts, usually near water, but the roots can be seen in town centres as well.
Pied wagtails look like a black and white photo; they have no colouring at all. Their wings and tails have streaks of white and black, and their bodies are mainly grey. They have a white mask on their face with a black hat that runs down their back.
Aegithalos caudatus
Close up of a perched Long-tailed Tit
Long-tailed Tit eating seeds from a bird feeder
Woodland and forests are two of the best places to spot Long-tailed tits
Long-tailed Tit perched on a branch
Long-tailed tits are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981
Close up of a perched juvenile Long-tailed tit
Length:
14cm
Wingspan:
16cm to 19cm
Weight:
7g to 10g
Long-tailed Tit call
Simon Elliott, XC608607. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/608607.
Long-tailed tits are found across the UK, apart from in the west and far north of Scotland. These are very interesting looking birds. They have a tail longer than their body, puffy head feathers that give them an appearance of having no neck to speak of, and mostly black and white feathers with a few red markings on their sides.
They love a bird feeder but are cautious eaters, preferring to eat in the tops of trees and shrubs in the wild. So, long-tailed tits take some encouraging to get feeding at bird feeders.
Periparus ater
Close up of a Coal Tit
Coal Tit from behind
Coal Tit perched on a tree branch
A Juvenile Coal Tit
Coal Tit in flight
Coal Tit eating seeds
Coal Tit gathering nesting materials
Length:
11.5cm
Wingspan:
17cm to 21cm
Weight:
8g to 10g
Coal Tit Call/Song
Stuart Fisher, XC627893. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/627893.
Coal tits look as though you have taken a black and white photo of a blue tit. They have very similar markings to most other tits but almost entirely black and white feathers.
These tits spend much of their time in woodland around the UK. However, they do visit our gardens and public parks from time to time. If you have trees in or nearby your garden, coal tits are more likely to visit, but bird feeders alone can attract them as well.
Dendrocopos major
Adult and Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker
Length:
22cm to 23cm
Wingspan:
34cm to 39cm
Weight:
85g
Adult Call
B Whyte, XC560495. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/560495.
Drumming
Michał Jezierski, XC625182. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/625182.
We’re cheating slightly here. The great spotted woodpecker does have mostly black and white feathers, but they wear bright red underpants and have a sunburnt neck as well. Other than that, though, the rest of their feathers are black and white, and they have lovely chevron markings on their wings.
Like most woodpeckers, the great spotted woodpecker likes to be near woodland most of the time. This is where most of its food is, of course. However, great spotted woodpeckers have learnt the ways of bird feeders and rather enjoy them. So, it is possible to attract these woodpeckers to your garden. They love peanuts and suet balls and really enjoy apple cores as well.
Vanellus vanellus
Juvenile Northern Lapwing
Lapwing feeding on an earthworm
Lapwings are generally found in open areas with low grass cover
Lapwing in flight
Lapwing foraging in the soil with prey (female)
Two male Northern Lapwings fighting
A large flock of Lapwings in flight
Length:
28cm to 31cm
Wingspan:
82cm to 87cm
Weight:
128g to 330g
Lapwings are becoming increasingly rare in the UK, and this is largely due to farming changes. Farmland is the best habitat for lapwings, and the slow but steady changes to this environment have meant that fewer lapwings are being seen now. In fact, since 1960, the population of lapwings in England and Wales has dropped by over 80%.
Lapwings are most recognisable by the tuff of feathers that come out the top of their heads. They also have similar iridescent wings to a magpie but have much longer legs used for walking through marshes.
Haematopus ostralegus
Close up of an Oystercatcher
Juvenile Oystercatcher
Oystercatcher walking out of sea, on the beach
Oystercatcher foraging for food along the shoreline
Sandy beaches are a common habitat for Oystercatchers
Oystercatcher in flight
A pair of Oystercatchers searching for prey on the beach
A pair of Oystercatchers fighting
A large flock of Oystercatchers
Length:
40cm to 47cm
Wingspan:
76cm to 86cm
Weight:
425g to 820g
If you see a bird near the coast that looks like it has a carrot for a beak and a jet black head, it is more than likely an oystercatcher. These are wading birds, so they have long, skinny legs and like to hang out near the sea.
Oystercatchers are coastal birds for the most part and can be found worldwide. In the UK, though, you see them on almost every coast. So, while they are a rare sight inland if you live by the sea, oystercatchers are likely one of the most common birds in your neighbourhood.
Branta leucopsis
Barnacle goose close up
Pair of barnacle geese flying
Barnacle goose feeding with goslings
Length:
58cm to 70cm
Wingspan:
132cm to 145cm
Weight:
1.3kg to 2.2kg
Barnacle Geese flight calls
david m, XC203089. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/203089.
Barnacle geese are quite a rare sight in the UK, but their numbers are rising well. In 2021, a study into barnacle geese showed a 60% increase in numbers from the last assessment in 2011.
The reason they are called barnacle geese is quite strange. It was once believed that these geese went underwater in the summer and resurfaced in the winter after ‘developing’. So the name comes from them likely getting barnacles from being underwater in the summer.
Dryobates minor
Close up of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in flight
Female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Portrait of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker hanging on a branch
Female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at nest hole with young
Length:
14cm to 15cm
Wingspan:
25cm to 27cm
Weight:
17g to 25g
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Song / Call
Paul Bourdin, XC661214. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/661214.
The greatest number of lesser spotted woodpeckers are in southern England, but there are some pockets of population in Wales and slightly further north too. This bird is entirely absent from Scotland and Ireland, though.
The easiest way to separate the lesser spotted woodpecker and the great spotted woodpecker is the red hat that the lesser wears. The great spotted does have red markings, but not on the top of its head. The lesser also has a brownish colouring to its white chest feathers, which the great spotted lacks as well.
The most commonly seen black and white bird in the UK is the magpie. It's one of the most common birds overall in the UK, in fact. In a recent Big Garden Birdwatch put on by the RSPB, the magpie came in at number 9 in the most common birds spotted in our gardens.
This may not mean that magpies are the 9th most common bird in the UK, of course, but it gives an indication as to how prevalent they are in our gardens.
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