A rare breeder in the UK, this sooty-coloured bird is as at home on an industrial site as it is on a rocky cliff face.

Wild privet is a shrub of hedgerows, woodlands and scrub, but is also a popular garden-hedge plant. It has white flowers in summer and matt-black berries in winter that are very poisonous.

This streaky brown bird is a winter visitor, occasionally found walking around the muddy margins of marshes.

The raven is famous for being the imposing, all-black bird that guards the Tower of London. Wild birds live in forests, and upland and coastal areas in the north and west of the UK.

A sure sign that spring has arrived, the Cuckooflower blooms from April. Look out for its delicate, pale pink flowers in damp meadows and ditches, and on riverbanks.

This elegant wading bird is a rare visitor to the UK, though occasionally one or two of pairs will nest here.

This glossy wading bird is a scarce visitor to the UK, though records have become more common in recent decades.