Portbury Wharf’s Birds

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Portbury Wharf’s birds – there are so many. We have the usual garden and hedgerow birds but because we are on the coast we also have lots of visiting wildfowl and waders.

According to the RSPB,  1 in 4 UK birds are now on the Red List of Conservation Concern  as numbers have dropped considerably. Eighteen of the birds that we regularly see among Portbury Wharf’s birds are on this red list with another 23 on the amber list (not quite as bad as the red list). Click here to read about the red and amber lists.

What to look out for at Portbury Wharf

Below is what you might see on the reserve, or close by, but of course this is not exhaustive. There will always be unusual visitors to keep an eye out for like avocets and bitterns. We have divided the lists seasonally so you know what you are likely to see and when.

What you may see at anytime of the year
What you will only see in the spring or summer
What you will only see in the winter

NB birds marked with * or ** may also be “Passage” birds ie passing through at other times of the year

We will be adding photos and more information about each bird in due course. Though with so many species this will be a labour of love and will take a little while to detail all of Portbury Wharf’s birds. So please be patient with us.

You can download our A5 spotting card to take with you to the reserve. You will find it on our Wildlife Monitoring page.

Birds you could see at any time of the year

Name	Where they usually hang out / Comment	At risk
Barn Owl	Anywhere
Blackbird	Hedgerows
Blackcap	Hedgerows
Black-headed Gull	Estuary and Pools	AMBER
Blue Tit	Hedgerows
Bullfinch	Hedgerows	AMBER
Buzzard	Anywhere
Canada Goose	Anywhere
Carrion Crow	Anywhere
Cetti’s Warbler	Hedgerows
Chaffinch	Hedgerows
Common Sandpiper	Estuary	AMBER
Coot	Anywhere
Cormorant	Anywhere
Gadwall	Estuary and Pools	AMBER
Goldcrest	Hedgerows
Goldfinch	Hedgerows and Salt Marsh
Great Crested Grebe	Pools
Great Tit	Hedgerows
Great Spotted Woodpecker	Anywhere
Greenfinch (Chloris Chloris)	Greenfinch – Look out for them in the hedgerows. They have a fizzy wheezing call. Audio track courtesy of Alexander Henderson, XC578272. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/578272
Green Woodpecker	Anywhere
Grey Heron	Anywhere
Herring Gull	Anywhere	RED
House Sparrow	Hedgerows	RED
Jackdaw	Anywhere
Kestrel	Anywhere	AMBER
Kingfisher	Estuary and Pools	AMBER
Lesser Black-backed Gull	Estuary and Pools	AMBER
Linnet	Hedgerows	RED
Little Egret	Estuary and Pools
Little Grebe	Pools
Little Owl	Anywhere
Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)	Long-tailed Tit Look out for them in the hedgerows Tail longer than body, hence the name Group together in excitable flocks Feed mainly on insects Huddle together to keep warm High-pitched squeaky call Audio track courtesy of Manuelle Francois, XC613790. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/613790
Magpie	Anywhere
Mallard	Estuary and Pools	AMBER
Mistle Thrush	Hedgerows	RED
Moorhen	Anywhere
Mute Swan	Estuary and Pools	AMBER
Oystercatcher	Oystercatcher Estuary and Pools Oystercatcher Posted: May 16, 2021 One of the slightly easier birds to identify is the Oystercatcher The Oystercatcher is a black and white bird with a bright red beak, red eye and pink legs and feet. It is quite a noisy bird with… Read More 0 comments	AMBER
Peregrine	Anywhere
Pied Wagtail	Anywhere
Redshank	Estuary and Pools	AMBER
Reed Bunting	Hedgerows	AMBER
Ringed-Plover	Estuary and Pools	RED
Robin	Anywhere
Shelduck	Estuary and Pools	AMBER
Song Thrush	Hedgerows	RED
Sparrowhawk	Anywhere
Starling	Anywhere	RED
Skylark	Anywhere, often high above the salt marsh	RED
Tufted Duck	Estuary and Pools
Wood Pigeon	Anywhere
Water Rail	Water Rail This is a secretive bird at home in freshwater ditches and ponds and you may hear it before you see it. The Water Rail makes a variety of noises but surprisingly can sound like a pig grunting and squealing. Audio track courtesy of Ulf Elman, XC709322. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/709322 Thanks to Tim Mason who photographed this Water Rail in one of the ditches on the nature reserve.
Wren	Hedgerows

The Summer Birds

These birds fly from Africa and beyond to spend the summer here. They will nest and raise their families before flying back to warmer climates for the winter.

The Winter Birds

These birds fly from northern and arctic regions to spend the winter here. So they will escape the worst of the cold harsh conditions to spend a relatively mild winter here. In spring when the arctic temperatures rise and the light increases they will fly back north to nest.

Name	Where they usually hang out	At risk
Black-tailed Godwit**	Estuary and Pools	RED
Common Snipe	Salt Marsh and Pools	AMBER
Curlew** Read more	Mainly on the salt marsh and estuary,  sometimes the pools. This bird is the most threatened of all our birds.	RED
Dunlin** Read more	Salt Marsh and Pools	AMBER
Fieldfare	Hedgerows	RED
Grey Wagtail**	Anywhere	RED
Jack Snipe	Salt Marsh and Pools	AMBER
Lapwing Read more	Salt Marsh and Pools	RED
Merlin**	Anywhere	RED
Pochard	Pools	RED
Redwing	Hedgerows	RED
Short-eared Owl**	Anywhere	AMBER
Shoveler	Salt Marsh and Pools	AMBER
Teal	Salt Marsh and Pools	AMBER
Wigeon	Look for them on the Salt Marsh and Pools They eat aquatic plants, grasses and roots They will “graze” on the salt marsh Male wigeon has a distinctive “weeeooo” whistling call It can be heard from quite a distance You can hear it in this clip:	AMBER

** these are also “passage” birds ie on their way through in spring and summer

Bird Posts

January – What to look out for

Posted: January 1, 2026

Happy New Year! This is the time of year when the winter birds are here, so next time you go down to the reserve look out for thrushes in the hedgerows and on the ponds the ducks and… Read More

2 comments

Oystercatcher

Posted: May 16, 2021

One of the slightly easier birds to identify is the Oystercatcher The Oystercatcher is a black and white bird with a bright red beak, red eye and pink legs and feet. It is quite a noisy bird with… Read More

0 comments

Murmuring starlings or whispering dunlins?

Posted: December 2, 2019

It was twilight. The stars had faded away but it was not yet sunrise when hundreds of pairs of wings purred past my shoulder. What were they? Where had they come from and where were they going? I… Read More

1 comment

Gordano Valley Lapwings

Posted: December 16, 2018

This morning at sunrise I watched 18 lapwing lift off from the North Pool. Once upon a time you would have seen flocks of a hundred strong. Sadly over the last 20 or so years, numbers have fallen… Read More

0 comments

Winter Birds

Posted: November 1, 2018

Look out for the winter birds: From August onwards lots of birds migrate here to escape the harsh northern winters. These winter birds will stay until the spring before heading back up to breed so in the meantime… Read More

0 comments