Berries

Berries are an important  food source for many of our garden birds during the winter, especially when the ground is too frozen to hunt for worms, and insects are scarce.  

Mistle thrushes, blackbirds, robins, redwings, hawfinches and fieldfares find most of their winter food from berries.  Redwings feed in flocks, while others may try to keep the berry-laden prize for themselves.

Redwing - note the two conspicuous eye-stripes, one above and one below the eye

Fieldfares are especially fierce - towards other birds, that is.  They are rather shy of humans.

 Fieldfare - rather larger and greyer than the redwing and no chestnut red patch under the wing

Thrushes and waxwings prefer berries with smaller seeds such as rowan, whereas finches opt for larger berries like hawthorn, blackthorn, cherry and wild plum.