House Sparrow most common bird in gardens across the east according to RSPB
A milder winter has helped many small garden birds thrive across the East of England according to the RSPB.
The RSPB's 41st Big Garden Bird Watch survey placed the House Sparrow at the top of the region's bird rankings.
Almost half a million people across the UK spent an hour during the last weekend of January 2020 watching birds visit their garden or outdoor space with nearly 8 million birds counted in total.
The RSPB say numbers of House Sparrow have been in decline ever since the Big Garden Birdwatch started in 1979, down by 53 per cent.
But in the most recent decade (2010-2020) numbers appear to have increased by 10 per cent suggesting that a partial recovery may be happening.
Although ranked in third in figures overall for England, the Blue tit was the most popular bird in gardens across Hertfordshire and second most popular in Norfolk and Suffolk.
1 - House Sparrow
2 - Starling
3 - Blue tit
4 - Wood pigeon
5 - Blackbird
6 - Goldfinch
7 - Great tit
8 - Robin
9 - Long tailed tit
10 - Magpie
11 - Chaffinch
12 - Collared Dove
13 - Dunnock
14 - Jackdaw
15 - Feral pigeon
16 - Coal tit
17 - Carrion crow
18 - Greenfinch
19 - Wren
20 - Song thrush