Identify common baby birds with this handy chart

By Brett Westwood

Published: Monday, 31 July 2023 at 15:14 PM


In summer, new and often puzzling birds appear in the garden. It’s tempting to assume that you’ve found something exotic, but what you’re really looking at are the first fledglings of the year.

Once their parents stop feeding them, working out the identity of the new kids on the block can be hard (few field guides illustrate recently fledged individuals), but this identification parade should help.

Start by asking yourself which adult birds the youngsters most resemble in size, profile, bill-shape and behaviour. Plumage colour and pattern are much less important. Many young birds retain their juvenile plumage for several months until their first moult – and it’s this that can be confusing.

The robin looks unfamiliar as a youngster because it starts out with no trace of the red breast sported by its parents: only in autumn do the first scarlet feathers begin to appear.

When I first started watching birds as a boy, I was also foxed by young mistle thrushes, whose scaly appearance made them look quite different to the more uniform adults.

Young greenfinches can be confusing, too, until you spot a flash of yellow in the wing. And many budding birders have been left red in the face by failing to appreciate that young goldfinches aren’t (red-faced, that is).

What to do if you find a baby bird

If you find a baby bird, leave it alone: its parents are probably nearby. For more advice go to rspb.org.uk

 


How to identify baby birds

Blackbird (Turdus merula)

Illustration of a juvenile blackbird.

Variable, but usually brown with rusty streaks and spots. Breast and flanks often speckled or ‘scaly’.

Mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus)

Mistle thrush

Pale centres to upper back and wing feathers create a ‘scaly’ look unlike the more uniform adult.

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Baby robin

Speckled breast and head; pale-centred feathers on upper back. Lacks adult’s red breast and face.

Great tit (Parus major)

Great tit chick

Looks ‘washed out’, with only a faint belly stripe (bold in adult) and overall yellow tinge to plumage.

Blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)

blue tit chick

Looks ‘jaundiced’, with yellowish cheeks, forehead and eye-stripe. Lacks adult’s black throat patch.

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

Goldfinch

Lacks adult’s red face patch and black cap, with streakier underparts. Tweezer-like bill.

Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)

Greenfinch

Often grey-brown with just a hint of green. Much streakier than adult. Chunky, triangular bill.

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)

Bullfinch

Resembles a very plain adult female, but with no black cap or chin. Stubby bill.

Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

Starling

Greyish, sandy-brown plumage, with paler throat. All-black bill (yellow in summer adult).

Woodpigeon (Columba pallumbus)

Woodpigeon

Duller, dirtier grey than adult, without pink tone, and lacks bold white slash on neck.

Pied wagtail (Motacilla alba)

pied wagtail

Much paler grey than adult, often with overall yellowish wash, and lacks black cap.

Spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata)

Spotted flycatcher

Appears more spotty than adult due to large pale blobs on upper back and shoulders.


All illustrations by Felicity Rose Cole. Main image: