Itchen Birds
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Coot
 Picture Alain Fosse
Resident
More common on open water but also appears to have declined on some parts of the Itchen. Management of riverside vegetation for anglers and perhaps an increase in Mink may be partly responsible for this.
Old regional names – Bald Coot (Somerset, Sussex), Water Hen (Somerset).
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Grey Heron
 Picture Colin Bates
Fairly common Itchen resident, can also be found on the coast. The Heron waits patiently poised, ready to move forward and strike its prey, which will include fish, eels, small mammals and frogs. In flight shows trailing legs and low hunched neck.
This bird has just swallowed a fish causing the bulge in the birds neck!!
Old regional names – Ern (Somerset), Jack Hern (Sussex).
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Little Grebe or Dabchick
 Picture Alain Fosse
Resident
The Little Grebe is an expert diver disappearing in an instant and reappearing 10-20 seconds in a completely different spot. It has a rich chestnut summer plumage, dull in winter.
Old regional names – Diedapper (Dorset, Hants)
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Snipe
 Picture Alain Fosse
Mostly winter but in good numbers
Marshy areas in the Itchen Valley see high concentrations of Snipe in the winter months, their numbers swelled by continental birds. The presence of Snipe is usually betrayed by a squelch like call as it rises into its zigzag flight. Frozen fields will force Snipe onto the river edge in harsh winters where they are more likely to be seen.
Old regional names – Whole Snipe (Somerset, Sussex), Full Snipe (Somerset) – probably originate from comparisons to the smaller Jack Snipe.
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Teal
 Picture Alain Fosse
Winters in small numbers.
This small pigeon-sized duck really prefers open water but may be found in secluded parts on the river in winter, wooded areas suit this secretive bird best.
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Mute Swan
 Picture by Colin Bates
The common swan of park and river the Itchen holds good numbers of these birds. Male separated by its large bill knob. Swans can produce large broods with a Bishopstoke pair successfully raising ten cygnets in recent years.
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Rook
 Picture by Colin Bates
Common farmland bird of the Itchen Valley, most familiar when in treetop rookeries with nests often numbered in their dozens. Gregarious in nature Rooks feed in groups and roost in large communal gatherings with Jackdaws and Carrion Crows, which may hold thousands of birds.
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Jackdaw
 Picture by Colin Bates
A bird of many habitats from farmland to rooftops the Jackdaw is a common and adaptable bird. Its familiar tchack and daw calls go some way to explain the origins of the birds name. As with the Rook it has a gregarious nature with roost flight lines just before dusk numbering many hundreds of birds. |
Moorhen
 Moorhen Picture Colin Bates
Common resident of the Itchen. Moorhens are faithful to their riverside habitat and are more unlikely to be found on open water like the coot. Can run, walk, swim and dive with ease although their flight is weak, an attractive but often overlooked bird.
Old local names – Nightbird (Sussex), Skitty (Somerset).
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Mallard
Mallard (Picture Colin Bates)
Also known as the Wild Duck, Mallard are abundant on the Itchen River. The male (pictured) is unmistakable with its glossy greenhead and white collar. The female is a rather plain mottled brown duck. During the summer when the birds are in eclipse plumage (a complete moult of feathers during which time they are unable to fly) the sexes look alike.
Hybrids are common resulting in many variations of colour.
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Sparrowhawk
 Sparrowhawk (picture by Paula Nash)
Now re-establishing itself after the effects of the agricultural pesticide DDT which had severe effects on the population. The diet of the Sparrowhawk is almost entirely small birds but they can easily take larger birds such as this woodpigeon
Can be separated in flight from the Kestrel by its flap-flap-glide technique and will never hover.
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Stonechat
Stonechat
Pictures by Colin Bates |  |
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Kestrel
 Juvenile Kestrel at nest hole, one of a brood of four raised in a hollow tree near the Itchen at Bishopstoke, July 2002.
Picture- Colin Bates |
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