Blue jay

In the British countryside, it’s common to hear gruff caw-caw-cawing and see large black birds flapping overhead. That’ll be a corvid – but which have you spotted, asks Clare Hunt

DAVID LINDO THE URBAN BIRDER

From a heroic long-distance swimmer to a producer of spectacularly eerie sound effects, the seabirds seen swooping and diving over British waters have all manner of singular skills, says John Lewis-Stempel

Unhurried in flight and with a sideline in stolen goods, the handsome red kite is the gentleman thief of the raptor world

So wondrous to witness that we often simply imagine we have seen one, the golden eagle embodies the spirit of the Highlands, but is happily progressing south once again

30-minute birder Amanda Tuke investigates the impact of feeding wild birds, and whether it’s a factor behind the decline of a woodland specialist