Our smallest UK bird is called the goldcrest, which is a tiny species (just 8 - 9 cm long) with green/brown feathers, big black eyes and a very obvious yellow stripe on the top of their head. They prefer to feed high up in pine trees and other conifers, which makes them a challenge to spot, but you can also listen out for their call, which is a high-pitched pip-pip sound. They feed on small insects throughout the year and very rarely sit still for more than a few seconds as they constantly hop around branches in search of food. They belong to a group of birds called kinglets, which are given their names by the different coloured crests, or crowns that the different types have. Another member of the group is the firecrest, which is a rare bird in Shropshire, but increasingly common in southern England.

Another tiny bird to look out for is also one of our most common birds: the wren. Like goldcrests, wrens try to stick to the cover of thick shrubs, bushes and piles of branches, where they can tuck themselves away from predators. You can read more by clicking on the boxes below.

Finches

The finches to look out for come in all manner of colours and sizes, from vivid greens to canary yellow. By putting out a range of different seeds in your feeders, you could attract many different types of Finch into your garden. Below are some of the finches to look out for in your garden during the winter.

There are also other finches sometimes spotted in parks and gardens, including out largest finch: the hawfinch, which regularly show up on high trees at Whitcliffe Common in Ludlow. If you live anywhere near a pine forest, a very colourful species to look out for is the crossbill, which has a unique beak, specially evolved to take apart pine cones for the precious seeds inside them.

One of our best looking finches is usually the one that is hardest to spot. Bullfinches are very distinctive, with a jet black head and bright peach breast. They will live in parks, gardens, woodlands and hedgerows, so they could potentially show up anywhere!

Wherever you live in Shropshire, there is a very exotic looking bird that occasionally shows up in the county called the waxwing. The number of waxwings that fly to Britain for the winter changes from year to year depending on weather conditions in other parts of Europe. But occasionally, we are treated to a "waxwing winter", when flocks of hundreds of them make their way across the North Sea to feast on berries to sustain themselves. They can show up in very urban places too, particularly on retail park car parks that have been planted with plenty of berry trees like Rowan. So, wherever you are in Shropshire during the winter months, keep your eyes peeled...you never know what you might spot!