Seasons: September

The house sparrow is a familiar, streaky brown bird of towns, parks and gardens. Males sport a grey cap and black bib, the size of which indicates their status.

A breeding bird of fast-flowing, upland rivers, the grey wagtail can also be seen in lowland areas, farmyards and even towns in winter.

The yellow wagtail can be spotted running about, chasing insects on lowland damp marshes and meadows during summer. As its name suggests, it does wag its tail!

The meadow pipit favours moorland and grassland. It is an unfortunate victim of cuckolding behaviour - their own young being pushed out of the nest, so they can look after the 'parasitic' Cuckoo chick.

A common and stocky bird of our rocky coasts, the rock pipit can nearly always be seen close to the sea. It is a bit smaller than a starling.

The secretive woodlark can be hard to spot. It nests on the ground on our southern heathlands and uses scattered trees and woodland edges for lookout posts.

The song of the skylark has been the subject of many great musical and literary works. A quintessential feature of our farmland and grasslands habitats, it is declining rapidly with habitat loss.

The bright green ring-necked parakeet is an escapee and our only naturalised parrot; its success is likely due to warmer winters. It can be seen in the South East.

• Birds
• Invasive Species
• Species

The easiest way to find out if the nocturnal and well-camouflaged nightjar is about is to listen out for its distinctive 'churring' call at dusk. A summer visitor, it is most numerous in southern England.

Look out for the swallow performing great aerial feats as it catches its insect-prey on the wing. You may also see it perching on a wire, or roosting in a reedbed, as it makes its way back to Africa for the winter.