Celebrating The Big Garden Birdwatch With Your Favourite Avian Names

The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch starts today! To celebrate, we’ve spotted the most popular bird-themed names that appeared on our name labels last year. Read on to see which of our feathered friends made the list!

Celebrating The Big Garden Birdwatch With Bird-Themed Names

The Big Garden Birdwatch asks the public to take part in a nationwide survey of our garden birds. This survey helps to track our bird population and spot warning trends that might indicate if certain species are struggling.

We’ve been inspired to take our own survey to see how many bird-inspired names we printed onto Stikins ® name labels last year.

Amazingly, we found twenty-two names representing fifty-two species of birds that can be seen in the UK. Here are the most popular bird inspired names we found:

Bird Related Facts For Your Garden Birdwatch

Our list includes some pretty interesting birds. For example, did you know:

• Jack snipes have a distinctive bouncing movement on land, as though on springs.
• The name for a group of jackdaws is a “clattering” or “train”.
• Willow warblers are one of very few bird species that moult twice a year – and no one knows quite why!
• Robins are one of few birds to sing all year round, with different songs for autumn and spring. They are drawn to artificial lights, which is why they are often found singing next to street lamps or flood lights at night.
• Jays are the most colourful members of the Corvus family. They love acorns, which they bury in autumn for the winter ahead.
• According to folklore, the birds decided that whichever one of them could fly the highest would be “King of the Birds”. The eagle flew the highest but, as it tired, a wren emerged from its hiding spot on the eagle’s back and flew higher still – winning the title of King.
• Honey buzzards mainly eat insect larvae of wasps and bees; its Latin name means “bee-eating bird of prey” and its German name is “wasp buzzard”.
• House martins and sand martins are extremely agile fliers and catch their food (mostly invertebrates) while in flight.
• Meadow pipits are common victims of cuckoos. Cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds’ nests so they will raise them as their own.
• Ravens are the largest member of the Corvus family. The name for a group of ravens is a “rave”, “treachery”, or “conspiracy”.
• Leach’s storm petrels spend most of their time at sea, landing only to breed. To protect their breeding sites, they land at night and will avoid clear, moonlit nights for extra protection.
• Blue tits are highly acrobatic and will hang upside down from branches when searching for food. They may bite invaders to protect their nests, earning them the nickname “Little Billy Biter”. They also issue warning calls about predators to other blue tits and other species.
• Male hen harriers fetch food and pass it to their mates in an acrobatic “food-pass” performed while both birds are mid-air. They do this to prevent watchful predators from discovering their nest.
• The merlin is the UK’s smallest bird of prey. It was a popular choice for falconry in medieval times and was considered appropriate for a Lady or an Emperor.
• The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal in the world; in 2005, a peregrine falcon named “Frightful” reached 242mph during a hunting stoop (high-speed dive).

If you’re taking part in this year’s Birdwatch, why not take on the extra challenge of seeing how many birds you can think of that have inspired names. You could then see how many of your inspirational birds you can spot in your garden.

Have You Spotted These Little Extras From Stikins ® Name Labels?

We designed Stikins ® name labels to provide busy families with a helpful solution to the problem of labelling school kit. With this in mind, we’ve also introduced a few helpful little extras.

• 10 Discount: We offer a 10% discount on every order that contains three or more packs. The offer is available when you order online or by phone. All you have to do is order at least three packs of Stikins ® name labels. This could be three identical packs, three completely different packs, or a mixture. If you don’t need three packs yourself, why not join with family or friends to place an order that qualifies!
• Sample For A Friend: When you order online, you can request a free sample for a friend, family member, or colleague. Simply enter the personalisation you want and we’ll print five name labels as a sample.
  Please note our "Sample For A Friend" offer is no longer available.
• Activity Sheets For Kids: We’ve got five different sets of free kids activity sheets available to download from our website. Each set contains five sheets with easy, medium, and hard levels of difficulty.
• School Fundraising Scheme: Our scheme allows schools, PTAs, nurseries, and children’s groups to earn commission on sales of Stikins ® name labels.