British Birds A to Z by Common Name

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British Birds A to Z by Common Name

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Title	Scientific Name	Description
Sand Martin	Riparia riparia
Sanderling	Calidris alba	In winter plumage their grey and white plumage distinguishes them from the same size but longer-billed Dunlins. The distinctive black shoulder marking is also a good means of identification. They...
Sandpiper	Actitis hypoleucos
Sandwich Tern	Sterna sandvicensis
Savi's Warbler	Locustella luscinioides
Scarlet Rosefinch	Carpodacus erythrinus
Scaup	Aythya marila
Scottish Crossbill	Loxia scotica	The Scottish crossbill is a sparrow-sized member of the finch family, measuring about 16 centimetres in length, and is closely related to goldfinches and canaries. Males and females are quite...
Sedge Warbler	Acrocephalus schoenobaenus
Serin	Serinus serinus
Shag	Phalacrocorax aristotelis
Shelduck	Tadorna tadorna
Shore Lark	Eremophila alpestris
Short-eared Owl	Asio flammeus
Shoveler	Anas clypeata
Siskin	Carduelis spinus	A small green and yellow finch with black markings and a distinctive forked tail.
Sky Lark	Alauda arvensis
Slavonian Grebe	Podiceps auritus
Smew	Mergus albellus
Snipe	Gallinago gallinago
Snow Bunting	Plectrophenax nivalis
Song Thrush	Turdus philomelos	The Song Thrush is smaller than both the Mistle Thrush or Blackbird. The sexes are similar with warm brown upper parts, pale buff underparts with dark speckles (which look like arrows pointing...
Sparrowhawk	Accipiter nisus	The sparrowhawk is an expert predator that is especially adept at high-speed flight weaving through dense woodland. The male is considerably smaller than female and amongst the smallest of all of...
Spoonbill	Platalea leucorodia
Spotted Crake	Porzana pusilla
Spotted Flycatcher	Muscicapa striata
Spotted Redshank	Tringa erythropus
Starling	Sturnus vulgaris	At a distance the Starling can easily be mistaken for a small blackbird, however, it does have a number of features that enable it to be easily distinguished. The Starling has a very angular...
Stock Dove	Columba oenas
Stone-curlew	Burhinus oedicnemus
Stonechat	Saxicola torquata
Storm-petrel	Hydrobates pelagicus
Swallow	Hirundo rustica	Very fast and agile in flight, the swallow can often be found darting low over long grass and hedgerows in seemingly repetitive circuits. Their glossy blue back, pale underside and red throat is...
Swift	Apus apus	The swift is nearly uniformly a sooty-brown colour apart from the whitish throat. The bill is small but the gape is very wide, making it perfect for catching flying insect. There is a forked tail but...