4Bs Survey of Birds January 2026

20 residents of the 4Bs contributed to the 2026 RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch and shared their observations in the Nature Group. These were collated to create this summary report.

The RSPB Survey methodology reports the maximum number of birds of any species that lands on the patch being observed over a 1 hour period.
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36 species of bird were reported by the 20 contributors to the survey (Table 1). 10 additional species compared to the 2025 count including: kingfisher, siskin, grey wagtail, redwing, goldcrest, sparrow hawk and several species of waterfowl.
 
The three species with the largest aggregate counts in the 4Bs survey are 1 = Blue Tit (69), 2 = Wood Pigeon (45) and Sparrow (40). The same three birds topped our local chart in 2025.
 
Long Tailed Tits, Robins, Crows and Magpies were also widely reported. 9 species had only one sighting. Some species that were observed in 2025 were not reported in 2026 – jay, marsh tit, pied wagtail, black cap and garden warbler.
 
Early counts across the UK have highlighted high numbers of Goldfinch, Blue Tits, and Wood Pigeons but we will have to wait for the full results to be published.
 
Table 1 Species reported in the 4Bs Big Garden Birdwatch Survey (20 contributors).  The number column is not the number of birds counted in one hour but the aggregate of the maximum number of birds that land in a patch during a one hour period. New species reported this year are shown in red font.