I have a two-year-old starling and a sparrow which is about 2months old. They are free and stay outside during the day minding their own bird business and the come back to sleep inside at night. I found them around the house when they were probably a few days old and fed then with a bird syringe with a silicon tube until they started feeding on their own. The starling imitates the iPhone sounds to a point where I get confused whether I received a text or it was actually the bird. He even imitates my voice when I call the dogs and cats. I hope they will live a lot longer than the average lifespan from this vid.
I would think that the longest-lived birds in this video were pets who didn't have to contend much with weather or predators, so yours should live a bit longer than average.
I’m a magpie fan, this year back in the Spring we had a large family of them grow up and visit our garden every day. This gave me a chance to see how the young birds developed. They were so inquisitive and boisterous. They seemed great at problem solving , and very playful. They even starting playing with our old cat who was previously content to just lay around and watch these birds, until they started pecking at her tail! She sloped off after that rather than chase the them. It’s audacity of these birds, they know what they want and they go and get it. Always the first to find the food to. I think they are attractive to, and certainly helpful chipping the moss off our house roof. All in all certainly worth having around.
I rescued a chaffinch from my garden. It had a left wing that wouldn't retract, not sure if was accident or raptor strike. Evening was approaching so I knew it would've been doomed... I had Cheep (named for her excitment when I was in the room/dawn chorus) for just over two years. I never caged her, she had free run/hop/short flight of my large bedroom with an ensuite bathroom that's split-level. She had tons of space, plenty of food (cress seemed to give her a lift!) and found a lot of pleasure bathing in my old Jack Russell's water bowl. I used to pick her up and show her to my wife. Cheep would bite her nose, which gave me immense pleasure! One Chrismas I took her downstairs to see the Christmas tree, what a Christmas Eve that was! Lots of entertainment from such a small frame, I have a new found spot in my heart for the chaffinch. Sadly, one morning I didn't hear Cheep. Now buried next to my Jack Russell, I miss them so much
What a great story. It sounds like you and cheep had a brilliant time together and I'm glad you found each other. It sounds like you both benefitted from one another. Thanks for sharing the story.
That was interesting that the wood pigeon feeds it's young with special milk. My favourite is the Robin but they are all wonderful to watch and learn about. Thanks for your great work, learn something new every time!
@@jimbojet8728 I had two Robins in my garden couple of months back. They like the mealworms I put out for them but haven't seen them for a few weeks. The Magpie is a handsome bird but quite ruthless I would say, probably more so than the Robin which is usually only trying to defend its territory. .. it's a tough life in the garden...lol...🌞🐦
Thank you for sharing another very informative video, Liam. It's just such a pity that the animals we watch and love because they bring us so much joy have only a short lifespan (in contrast to our long lifespan).
As a kid, chaffinches were very common. Probably the second most common bird in our garden after the sparrow. These days, you're lucky to see one. Magpies are the opposite. They're everywhere now. In my youth there were a good few, but not this many, but my parents say that when they were young magpies were actually quite a rare sight.
Because magpies were heavily persecuted to the verge of extinction in some areas of England (mostly by gamekeepers seeking to protect non-native gamebirds like pheasants and red legged partridge). It’s only recently their numbers have reached their historic numbers
Well done again Liam! Crop milk is quite common among birds that feed on nuts and seeds, which is indigestable to nestlings - just think of the budgerigar.
I live in Essex and have many many starlings feed everyday I was mighty surprised about 10 days ago when I had around 30 chicks being fed in my garden, it was amazing how the adult birds searched for their own offspring, a wonderful sight
I was sad to realise that Robins only live for two years. Sucks that that are not around for king really. I live on the south Lincolnshire coast and I’ve noticed a decline in Starlings… thank you Liam great Vlog as always
Great video. But I have always wondered why parrots live so long compared to other birds? Here in Australia I know someone who has a pet cockatoo which was the pet of his grandfather. They apparently can live to be 100. Many other parrots have a lifespan of many decades. I have never heard a good explanation as to why this is? Any ideas Liam?
Absolutely fascinating! Always wanted to know just the basics of these Beautiful things that exist in our neighborhoods. Thank You very much for the post!
Very interesting facts and figures on some of our most common birds. I thought most of them might have lived longer, but I guess considering the pitfalls they have to face from the time of hatching, they are lucky if they even reach adulthood! Boo to the magpie for stealing eggs but I still think they are smart birds!! :)
I have lots ( 30 /40) starlings visiting my bird feeders everyday here in Cheltenham (They love mealworms) They are beautiful When the sun rays hits their feathers.
I thought starlings lived for 3 years. Ha, I remember some nesting in the pipes at the top of my house and everyday next to my bed I would hear the baby starlings, I even saw the parents feeding it.
To my surprise i seen my first goldfinch in my garden 3 weeks ago and to my surprise i found it nesting in the very top of my acer maple tree. It has 6 eggs in it and does not even fly off them when im working under it,they certainly chicks by now.
The lake district is where I first met a cheeky chaffinch. There were lots at a little café flirting around the outside tables for any crumbs and we're quite close. Take a trip?
Always a pleasure to watch and learn. It would be interesting to know how the oldest known exmples are known, eg. are they ringed as a chick and monitored or are they just kept in an avary?
I would be interested to know what the average age is based on. Eggs laid, Birds hatched, birds fledged etc. I assume many birds hatched don't make it past the end of that first summer and fewer still past their first winter so any that do probably live maybe twice the average or more.
It's very interesting. The answers are out there. If you look on the BTO website (I can't remember the exact link) there is information on first year survival and then subsequent years. I was going to include the caveat that these averages are based on birds that fledge the nest not those that don't hatch or don't survive to fledging.
That's similar to the average like expectancy in Victorian times. Because so many children died in infancy the life expectancy at birth was about 40 but the life expectancy at age 10 was 60 or more. We have several Robins & Blue Tits who have been coming into our garden for a number years and they seem to know what time I get up as they are waiting for me to put the bird food out in the morning. The pigeons have the best timing, they see me walk out of the back door, swoop to the roof of the extension and are eating the nuts that I thrown on top of the shed before they have stopped rolling.
Can't remember the last time I saw a female blackbird, years ago I think, Always see and here the males singing and occasionally that warning call they do..
a brave robin will sit just a foot away watching me put the food onto the feeder before happily tucking in, we also see a male and female blackbird, about a dozen starlings, a few blue tit and half a dozen house sparrows, a magpie will very rarely come down from the tree to feed and drink too, one starling in particular hangs around in the bird feeder for hours on end which viciously defending its turf from intruders
It's a shame starlings have declined in the UK. I used to see a lot as a kid. I had no idea they were such good mimics then, otherwise I would have paid more attention. I just don't see any now.
That is a very good question, which I hadn't considered before. The source is the British Trust for ornithology so I assumed they were wild birds. I'll look into it further.
Im surprised that theres such a difference between average lifespan and possible age. They are buildt to live so much longer. Why do they die so early, whats the main cause of death for birds? I know the first year is difficult, but after that?
Humans have the capacity to live well into a century, but accidents, illness, etc. take their toll. Likewise with birds - accidents, bad weather, illness and predators all shorten many bird lives, which is why the ages are averages - some birds live much longer in the wild and some much shorter.
@@dan13ljks0n Yes but that is guessing - i was after something more solid! But i did some googling myself, and found an article from danish national nature-historic museum: A little over half die the first year, dependent of species, some are more "prone" than other. For erithacus rubecula it is as much as 70% that die within a year. These youngs mostly die because of birds of prey and cats. The "survivors" usually live a few years after that, again dependent of species, and when they die, it is often from infections (mostly coli and salmonella). Infections and parasites kills about half of them. (so remember to keep the feeding stations clean so not to spread that)
@@hannehansen7214 Basically, your search came up with the same answer I gave you, but with more stats. I wasn't trying to be specific, just general. Most (though not all) animals kept in captivity live much longer than their wild counterparts.
Why do you think there’s such a big disparity between the average age and the oldest birds? Some were living 4 or 5 times longer than the average. The average age for men pre in U.K. pre C-19 was 83, if we followed the arch as birds we should have some living to be 400. Is it predation that brings the age down? Or is it just birds preyed on by cats etc that we get the rings from to trace their age. I wouldn’t mind betting over 90% of birds are never caught and rung and then how many are caught twice?
I think humans have been very successful in preventing deaths from most environmental factors, which is why we live to such a high percentage of our potential age. Birds on the other hand, have to deal with predation, cars, adverse weather, starvation and untreated disease. I need to look into each individual statistic as I think some of the oldest birds may have been in captivity. This doesn't mean there aren't older birds in the wild of course, but it's harder to measure. Cheers
I thought the answer to this might have been yes, but I have just checked and no, it is from wild bird ringing data apparently. If you look up BTO bird facts, and type in the species it'll give you further information.
Birds were close rung in their nests and then reported when they died I guess. I didn't just make these numbers up lol. Have a look on.the BTO website and if you still disagree, question them about it.
@@AShotOfWildlife You took my comment too personally, I'm a big fan of birds and I know the pointlessness of such precise data whoever posted it, otherwise you have solid topics on your channel, try to do some research on your own, this way you remain just a broadcaster
Some people hand rear very young birds for various reasons, fledgling falling from nests ,cats bringing in young ones , nests getting blown from trees .ect. i,ve brought up guite a few birds myself ,over the decades.
I have a two-year-old starling and a sparrow which is about 2months old. They are free and stay outside during the day minding their own bird business and the come back to sleep inside at night. I found them around the house when they were probably a few days old and fed then with a bird syringe with a silicon tube until they started feeding on their own. The starling imitates the iPhone sounds to a point where I get confused whether I received a text or it was actually the bird. He even imitates my voice when I call the dogs and cats. I hope they will live a lot longer than the average lifespan from this vid.
💚
I would think that the longest-lived birds in this video were pets who didn't have to contend much with weather or predators, so yours should live a bit longer than average.
I’m a magpie fan, this year back in the Spring we had a large family of them grow up and visit our garden every day. This gave me a chance to see how the young birds developed. They were so inquisitive and boisterous. They seemed great at problem solving , and very playful. They even starting playing with our old cat who was previously content to just lay around and watch these birds, until they started pecking at her tail! She sloped off after that rather than chase the them. It’s audacity of these birds, they know what they want and they go and get it. Always the first to find the food to. I think they are attractive to, and certainly helpful chipping the moss off our house roof. All in all certainly worth having around.
I rescued a chaffinch from my garden. It had a left wing that wouldn't retract, not sure if was accident or raptor strike. Evening was approaching so I knew it would've been doomed...
I had Cheep (named for her excitment when I was in the room/dawn chorus) for just over two years.
I never caged her, she had free run/hop/short flight of my large bedroom with an ensuite bathroom that's split-level.
She had tons of space, plenty of food (cress seemed to give her a lift!) and found a lot of pleasure bathing in my old Jack Russell's water bowl.
I used to pick her up and show her to my wife. Cheep would bite her nose, which gave me immense pleasure!
One Chrismas I took her downstairs to see the Christmas tree, what a Christmas Eve that was!
Lots of entertainment from such a small frame, I have a new found spot in my heart for the chaffinch.
Sadly, one morning I didn't hear Cheep.
Now buried next to my Jack Russell,
I miss them so much
What a great story. It sounds like you and cheep had a brilliant time together and I'm glad you found each other. It sounds like you both benefitted from one another. Thanks for sharing the story.
You hooked me in with the woodpigeon on the thumbnail - my favourite! 😍
That was interesting that the wood pigeon feeds it's young with special milk. My favourite is the Robin but they are all wonderful to watch and learn about. Thanks for your great work, learn something new every time!
Ah the little Robin. ‘Sex and violence’. The pretty faced thugs of the garden. Yes, they are lovely. Not seen many about recently ?
@@jimbojet8728 I had two Robins in my garden couple of months back. They like the mealworms I put out for them but haven't seen them for a few weeks. The Magpie is a handsome bird but quite ruthless I would say, probably more so than the Robin which is usually only trying to defend its territory. .. it's a tough life in the garden...lol...🌞🐦
Excactly what I was going to say. Are there any other species that do this?
@@radders261 You got me thinking and apparently the flamingo and the male emperor penguin do, I looked it up, amazing really.
@@celestenova777 this is bloody fascinating . I
Thank you for sharing another very informative video, Liam. It's just such a pity that the animals we watch and love because they bring us so much joy have only a short lifespan (in contrast to our long lifespan).
As a kid, chaffinches were very common. Probably the second most common bird in our garden after the sparrow. These days, you're lucky to see one. Magpies are the opposite. They're everywhere now. In my youth there were a good few, but not this many, but my parents say that when they were young magpies were actually quite a rare sight.
Because magpies were heavily persecuted to the verge of extinction in some areas of England (mostly by gamekeepers seeking to protect non-native gamebirds like pheasants and red legged partridge). It’s only recently their numbers have reached their historic numbers
This along with all your other videos was very enjoyable. I was surprised and sad to hear that Robins only live for 2 years 😢
Well done again Liam! Crop milk is quite common among birds that feed on nuts and seeds, which is indigestable to nestlings - just think of the budgerigar.
I genuinely enjoy your videos. I am fond of all the birds in my garden and regularly put out food. I find pigeons especially pleasing.🐦
Again another belter of a post !! Fantastic info 👏🏻👏🏻👍👍
Thank you for fantastic and informative video hugs from Scotland 🙂🤗
I live in Essex and have many many starlings feed everyday I was mighty surprised about 10 days ago when I had around 30 chicks being fed in my garden, it was amazing how the adult birds searched for their own offspring, a wonderful sight
Robins are my fav... Had one in the garden who would eat out of my hand. He lived to almost 4 years. Still miss him.
I was sad to realise that Robins only live for two years. Sucks that that are not around for king really. I live on the south Lincolnshire coast and I’ve noticed a decline in Starlings… thank you Liam great Vlog as always
It really is so sad
I was aware of these lifespans of our common little birds. 5 x longer in captivity than in the wild, usually. A very good vid. Thank you.
Thanks
Your videos are so interesting, many thanks . I was very surprised on the shortness of the birds lives though.
Great video. But I have always wondered why parrots live so long compared to other birds? Here in Australia I know someone who has a pet cockatoo which was the pet of his grandfather. They apparently can live to be 100. Many other parrots have a lifespan of many decades. I have never heard a good explanation as to why this is? Any ideas Liam?
Another brilliant video 👍 I look forward these excellent productions , thanks so much
Thank you!
Another great video, really interesting. Just what I needed! Thank you
Great! Thank you
Liam always helping us to pay attention to these charming creatures and with a lush accent :D Thank you Liam!
Absolutely fascinating! Always wanted to know just the basics of these Beautiful things that exist in our neighborhoods. Thank You very much for the post!
I really enjoy your videos Liam, especially the bird ones as that’s my passion
Great, thank you.
There will be lots of birds in my upcoming video which is coming out this afternoon. Some that I have never featured before.
Excellent video, love these. 🐦🐤🦅🦆🦢
Thank you!
Always love your videos, very informative and easy to understand 😊
Another great vid - thanks Liam!
Very interesting facts and figures on some of our most common birds. I thought most of them might have lived longer, but I guess considering the pitfalls they have to face from the time of hatching, they are lucky if they even reach adulthood! Boo to the magpie for stealing eggs but I still think they are smart birds!! :)
Of those long living mentioned.. were they in captivity.. domesticated.. or ???????
Thanks for this great informative video again and full of very surprisesing facts 👏
Cheers!
Great video and thanks for the information, never knew birds had such a short lifespan.
Thanks!
Love this video, I have all those birds in my garden except for the chaffinch
Maybe you live near me, chaffinch are the only ones I've never seen in my garden either. Cheers
Good morning, my friend fantastic and beatifull!!!!!! thank 💯💢💯™️🤗👍♥️
Thank you
@@AShotOfWildlife HAPPY DAY 👍
Yes I have wondered! Thank you 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🇬🇧
Thank you, that was great. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼xx
I have lots ( 30 /40) starlings visiting my bird feeders everyday here in Cheltenham (They love mealworms)
They are beautiful
When the sun rays hits their feathers.
I thought starlings lived for 3 years. Ha, I remember some nesting in the pipes at the top of my house and everyday next to my bed I would hear the baby starlings, I even saw the parents feeding it.
To my surprise i seen my first goldfinch in my garden 3 weeks ago and to my surprise i found it nesting in the very top of my acer maple tree. It has 6 eggs in it and does not even fly off them when im working under it,they certainly chicks by now.
the gold finch is an exotic looking animal that is actually common and widespread
The lake district is where I first met a cheeky chaffinch. There were lots at a little café flirting around the outside tables for any crumbs and we're quite close. Take a trip?
Love your vids, it a shame we've lost so much population of so many birds of my younger years.
Great video thanks
Cheers!
Can you do a video on Egyptian Geese as they seem to like Hot SE weather seen on the Thames reg at Tilbury an seem at Chelmsford
I can do better than that... heres one I prepared earlier. I hope you enjoy it: ruclips.net/video/OsWo2kRSpgY/видео.html
Thank you!
Cheers!
Always a pleasure to watch and learn. It would be interesting to know how the oldest known exmples are known, eg. are they ringed as a chick and monitored or are they just kept in an avary?
I do wonder, thank you
Thanks for video can you actually tame a wood pigeon. I have a few visit in my garden and don't fly of so much if I go out there .
🕊🌎🕊🕊sharing..thankyou
I would be interested to know what the average age is based on. Eggs laid, Birds hatched, birds fledged etc. I assume many birds hatched don't make it past the end of that first summer and fewer still past their first winter so any that do probably live maybe twice the average or more.
It's very interesting. The answers are out there. If you look on the BTO website (I can't remember the exact link) there is information on first year survival and then subsequent years.
I was going to include the caveat that these averages are based on birds that fledge the nest not those that don't hatch or don't survive to fledging.
@@AShotOfWildlife Thanks for the update. I'll follow up to find out as you suggest. Keep up the good work.
That's similar to the average like expectancy in Victorian times. Because so many children died in infancy the life expectancy at birth was about 40 but the life expectancy at age 10 was 60 or more.
We have several Robins & Blue Tits who have been coming into our garden for a number years and they seem to know what time I get up as they are waiting for me to put the bird food out in the morning. The pigeons have the best timing, they see me walk out of the back door, swoop to the roof of the extension and are eating the nuts that I thrown on top of the shed before they have stopped rolling.
Thanks.
Magpies in my garden love to wind up my dog!
Magpies in my garden love to wind up my self!
Are you from East Anglia? That accent sounds familiar haha
lol just seen your video about the dead otter in the river Wensum. Now I'm pretty sure I'm right haha
You are correct. I'm from great Yarmouth but have roamed norfolk and Cambridgeshire the last few years. Lol
Starlings mimic 😊
Can't remember the last time I saw a female blackbird, years ago I think, Always see and here the males singing and occasionally that warning call they do..
What you didn’t make clear, was the survival time of the individual birds, ringed wild or captive.
I'm not sure I understand you. I believe all of the lifespans I included are for wild birds, not captive.
👍
a brave robin will sit just a foot away watching me put the food onto the feeder before happily tucking in, we also see a male and female blackbird, about a dozen starlings, a few blue tit and half a dozen house sparrows, a magpie will very rarely come down from the tree to feed and drink too, one starling in particular hangs around in the bird feeder for hours on end which viciously defending its turf from intruders
How would they know how long they live as wild birds? The numbers would be different to captivity rates, with predators and such like.
Wood Pigeons would live a lot longer if they were taught the green cross code, or indeed the Highway Code.
It's a shame starlings have declined in the UK. I used to see a lot as a kid. I had no idea they were such good mimics then, otherwise I would have paid more attention. I just don't see any now.
Trying to get the visiting more is our struggle with cats all around us. We have cat safe bird feeders...
How would someone be able to narrow down the age of a bird in days? I would have thought it quite impossible?
I'm assuming that those are birds that lived in captivity, or perhaps a Zoo, or a wildlife preservation area where they could be observed daily.
That is a very good question, which I hadn't considered before. The source is the British Trust for ornithology so I assumed they were wild birds. I'll look into it further.
I had a goldfinch what was over 13 years old when he died
How did they know how old the birds were? Were they ringed when they were chicks?
There was a pigeon in New Zealand called Pidge who is i believe still alive after 25 years
Im surprised that theres such a difference between average lifespan and possible age. They are buildt to live so much longer. Why do they die so early, whats the main cause of death for birds? I know the first year is difficult, but after that?
Humans have the capacity to live well into a century, but accidents, illness, etc. take their toll. Likewise with birds - accidents, bad weather, illness and predators all shorten many bird lives, which is why the ages are averages - some birds live much longer in the wild and some much shorter.
@@dan13ljks0n Yes but that is guessing - i was after something more solid! But i did some googling myself, and found an article from danish national nature-historic museum: A little over half die the first year, dependent of species, some are more "prone" than other. For erithacus rubecula it is as much as 70% that die within a year. These youngs mostly die because of birds of prey and cats.
The "survivors" usually live a few years after that, again dependent of species, and when they die, it is often from infections (mostly coli and salmonella). Infections and parasites kills about half of them. (so remember to keep the feeding stations clean so not to spread that)
@@hannehansen7214 Basically, your search came up with the same answer I gave you, but with more stats. I wasn't trying to be specific, just general. Most (though not all) animals kept in captivity live much longer than their wild counterparts.
Wood pigeons round my way I reckon will beat that as they don't go anywhere. Just mate an mate an mate an someone is feeding them
Sadly birds in the wild, only live a fraction of the life of birds in captivity
Why do you think there’s such a big disparity between the average age and the oldest birds? Some were living 4 or 5 times longer than the average. The average age for men pre in U.K. pre C-19 was 83, if we followed the arch as birds we should have some living to be 400. Is it predation that brings the age down? Or is it just birds preyed on by cats etc that we get the rings from to trace their age. I wouldn’t mind betting over 90% of birds are never caught and rung and then how many are caught twice?
I think humans have been very successful in preventing deaths from most environmental factors, which is why we live to such a high percentage of our potential age. Birds on the other hand, have to deal with predation, cars, adverse weather, starvation and untreated disease. I need to look into each individual statistic as I think some of the oldest birds may have been in captivity. This doesn't mean there aren't older birds in the wild of course, but it's harder to measure. Cheers
Who keeps records as to how long the birds you mention live And so precisely
These come from the BTO. I suspect a lot of them may be captive birds but I'm going to look into it a bit later on.
I’m guessing the oldest ages are captive not wild?
We're the oldest known birds in captivity though ?
I thought the answer to this might have been yes, but I have just checked and no, it is from wild bird ringing data apparently. If you look up BTO bird facts, and type in the species it'll give you further information.
@@AShotOfWildlife cool thanks for the reply 👊🏻😎 interesting 🤔
In what way was it possible to determine the age of a bird so precisely, even in the days, in the forties of the last century, just ridiculous...
Birds were close rung in their nests and then reported when they died I guess. I didn't just make these numbers up lol. Have a look on.the BTO website and if you still disagree, question them about it.
@@AShotOfWildlife You took my comment too personally, I'm a big fan of birds and I know the pointlessness of such precise data whoever posted it, otherwise you have solid topics on your channel, try to do some research on your own, this way you remain just a broadcaster
@@jakovj.m.5322 ohh sorry. I had just woke up when I replied. With these sort of videos I have to rely on the facts and figures provided. Cheers
Some people hand rear very young birds for various reasons, fledgling falling from nests ,cats bringing in young ones , nests getting blown from trees .ect. i,ve brought up guite a few birds myself ,over the decades.
I did not come into this video expecting to learn about pigeon "throat-milk". I think I might throw up.