help me to identify birds in my garden plz.

tkachev

I need help identifying 2 beautiful birds in my back garden. They are a pair of black and white birds, mainly all white on chest, with bright red/ orange legs, feet. They are tapping at my tree similar to woodpeckers. I have never seen them before and as they are flying from my kitchen roof to the tree I imagine they are building a nest or raising young.
Any bird lovers know what they are?

Elizabeth

tkachev

Thanks Del. I had a look at the pic of a tree creeper but dont think it is that. It has very black wings and back with white patches.

Elizabeth

tkachev

Well I have failed to identify these birds using various websites. Maybe my eyes deceived me and it had red orange feathers rather than legs. Would this be a woodpecker? It certainly behaved like one.

Elizabeth

fayrose

Try here if you haven't already. Its always sorted our 'oddities'.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdidentifier/form.aspx

tkachev

Del I think they are great spotted woodpeckers although I could not see any red on their heads.
Thanks for your help. Fayrose I did try that site but it eliminated everything.

Elizabeth

robertls

Dont forget the lesser spotted woodpecker..........

daylily

Hi Elizabeth,
the female greater spotted woodpecker does not have red on back of head usually, it's the male that has it.
happy birdwatching.
PS
if you want them to hang around you can get logs (12" long) that have holes drilled all over them which are filled with fatty stuff.
Wood peckers love it.
xx

tkachev

Would there be a pair of female woodpeckers in the garden? They seemed to be a couple so assumed one would be male.
We have tons of logs in the garden so wonder if we could sort out some for the woodpeckers.

Also have a fox that appears in the garden each day. It is bold as brass. I am worried about the children out in the garden when the weather improves. We have had foxes for years but never used to see in the daylight.

Elizabeth

tkachev

robertls wrote:

Dont forget the lesser spotted woodpecker..........

Hi Rob. I think it is the great spotted woodpecker looking at the pics.

Elizabeth

daylily

Hi Elizabeth,
By all accounts foxes are getting bolder, they are losing their fear of humans I think.
Not sure about the children in the garden- I would hate to say they should be ok and then something happened.
One of those electronic cat scarer things might keep it out of the garden if it was positioned right. It's definately worked on the cats. Have a look online there could be something else like that on the market.
take care
xx
It's easy to make the fat logs with melted suet/nuts/raisons etc.
I too would have thought there would be a pair of woodpeckers, especially at this time of year.