Birds at Wolfson

How many different bird species do you think there are living within the grounds of Wolfson College? The answer is, at least 48 - and no doubt more, if you include all the seasonal visitors. 

As part of an exercise to calculate the College's biodiversity, we set out to measure how many birds we could identify in the College - including, of course, the meadows we own across the Cherwell river, a Site of Special Scientific Interest. We armed ourselves with three things: first, BirdNET, a free smartphone app from Cornell University for birdsong identification, based upon geography and season; second, two excellent cameras, the Nikon D500 and Nikon P1000; and third, curiosity. 

Find below the full list of those birds we have recorded live at Wolfson. Some are everyday visitors to much of Oxford - blackbirds, robins, wrens, magpies. Others you find along our riverside, such as kingfishers, mute swans, black-headed gulls and moorhens. Others inhabit our meadows, such as our skylarks. Some are new immigrants, such as the pair of rose-ringed parakeets. Others use our woodland, such as the great spotted and green woodpeckers. High above us fly our red kites and kestrels. All are part of Wolfson's biodiversity.

Note:  BirdNET is a free smartphone app from Cornell University for birdsong identification, based upon geography and season. Click here for an explanatory video.

Photo credits: Anju Sharma

Blackbird

Robin

Wren

Jackdaw

Magpie

Jay

Carrion Crow

Red Kite

Kingfisher

Coot

Moorhen

Canada goose

Greylag goose

Goldcrest

Blue tit

Great tit

Long-tailed tit

Coal tit

Pied wagtail

Yellow wagtail

Chaffinch

Goldfinch

Woodpigeon

Collared dove

Barn swallow

Swift

Mallard

Mute swan

Black-headed gull

Starling

House martin

Skylark

Grey heron

House sparrow

Song thrush

Rook

Great spotted woodpecker

Raven

Nuthatch

Green woodpecker

Cuckoo

Rose-ringed parakeet

Kestrel

Chiffchaff

Barnacle goose

Grasshopper warbler

Dunnock

Blackcap

Whitethroat