Arran’s top 10 garden birds
Bird notes by Jim Cassels
The last weekend in January 2026 was the weekend of the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch. This was the 46 year of this event. Households on Arran not only took part in this survey of garden birds, but some shared their results with me. This year there were 34 sets of Arran results sent to me, compared to 24 last year, 31 in 2024, 28 in 2023, 26 in 2022, and 35 in 2021.
As in previous recent years the weekend was dominated by blustery wind and rain but that did not deter the enthusiasm of the participants.
The range of species seen in each garden ranged from 17 to one with 22 of the gardens recording 10 or more species. Six gardens recorded more than 60 birds, and one of these had a total of 149 birds. In total, 29 species were reported which is one less than last year. The following species were recorded this year but not last: common gull, raven and sparrowhawk. The following species were not recorded this year but were recorded last year: common crossbill, redpoll, mistle thrush and pied wagtail. Comparing species that were seen in both years, coal tit went from being recorded in 78 per cent of the gardens last year to 94 per cent of the gardens this year. Similarly, greenfinch went from 35 per cent of the gardens last year to 47 per cent of the gardens this year. On the other hand, blackbird went from being recorded in 97 per cent of gardens last year to 73 per cent this year, goldfinch went from 61 per cent to 23 per cent and siskin went from 30 per cent to 11 per cent.
Chaffinch was recorded in every garden and blue tit and coal tit were recorded in all except two gardens. Chaffinch had the largest total of birds, namely 411. House sparrow had the second largest total, 210 and coal tit the third largest total, 151.
From the collation from all the gardens, the top 10 birds this year in terms of the number of gardens in which they were seen are: chaffinch, coal tit, blue tit, robin, great tit, house sparrow, dunnock, blackbird, greenfinch and collared dove. This is the same top eight as last year, with greenfinch and collared dove replacing goldfinch and woodpigeon in the top 10. The order is different with some species moving up and others moving down. For example, coal tit moved up from seventh last year to second this year while blackbird moved down from first last year to eight this year.
For a collation of all the Arran data from the Big Garden Birdwatch for the last five years visit the webpage at www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/big-garden-birdwatch
While this information is interesting, too much should not be read into these small samples. It is a fun survey to do but it only covers one weekend in the year. If you enjoy your garden birds, there is a survey that you can join that encourages people to record their garden bird sightings every week of the year. It is called the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Garden BirdWatch (GBW). To find out more about the BTO Garden BirdWatch visit the website at www.bto.org/our-science/projects/gbw
Enjoy your birding.
Please send any bird notes with “what, when, where” to me at Kilpatrick Kennels, Kilpatrick, Blackwaterfoot, KA27 8EY, or e mail me at jim@arranbirding.co.uk I look forward to hearing from you. For more information on birding on Arran purchase the annual bird report. The “Arran Bird Report 2025” should be in outlets round Arran in time for Easter. Look out for it. The 2024 report was sold out. Plus visit the website www.arranbirding.co.uk/index.html At all times follow the Arran Wildlife Code.
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