Plumage & Perch is a working ornithologist's reference for the birds that visit ordinary gardens. Most of what's published here started as a notebook entry from a survey square, an observation log from the back-garden hide, or a question a reader sent in. Every guide is written to answer that question well enough that you don't need to read three more.
The author
Dr. James Whitfield, M.Sc., D.Phil.
I hold an M.Sc. in Ornithology from the University of Oxford and a D.Phil. in Avian Ecology, with field experience across Western Europe, North America, and the East African Rift. From 2014 to 2022 I worked as a field biologist with the British Trust for Ornithology, where my work focused on the population ecology of declining Old World passerines. Since 2022 I have written full-time for general audiences while keeping a private field-records archive that now exceeds 12,000 standardised garden hours across temperate-zone gardens and woodland edge habitat.
I am a fellow of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and a corresponding member of the American Ornithological Society.
What this site is for
Most online bird-identification content is written by people who do not look at the birds. The result is a strange mixture of correct-sounding advice that does not survive a season of contact with a real garden, a real feeder, and a real population of birds. The aim of Plumage & Perch is to be a place where the advice has been tried.
Each entry on this site is one of two things:
- A pillar guide, a long reference covering an entire family or major group, written to be read once and consulted often.
- A species or topic guide, a focused profile of a single species, behaviour, or practical question, attached to its parent pillar.
The structure mirrors how I think about the avifauna outside the kitchen window: the family tells you what kind of bird you are looking at; the species tells you what to do about it.
Editorial principles
- Use scientific names. Common names vary by country and by decade; Latin binomials do not. Birds are referred to by binomial first, common name in parentheses on first mention. Where the AOS or BOU has revised a name in the last decade, both the old and current names appear together.
- Cite the mechanism. "Put up a feeder" is meaningless. "A 28 mm-mesh tube feeder filled with sunflower hearts at 1.6 m above ground, sited at least 2 m from the nearest dense cover" is something you can do.
- Distinguish identification from speculation. A field mark is what you can actually see at twenty metres in poor light. A field mark is not a colour described in a museum-skin description. Where the literature disagrees with what is visible in life, the article says so.
- Don't sell. Plumage & Perch does not run affiliate links to feeder brands, optics manufacturers, or seed merchants. If a particular product or supplier is mentioned by name, it is because their work is genuinely good.
- Update when wrong. If you find an error or a missed taxonomic update, write in via the contact page.
Editorial review
Articles are reviewed annually for taxonomic accuracy and to incorporate new ornithological literature. The most recent full review was completed before the launch of the rebuilt site in May 2026. Each pillar carries the date of its last substantive revision in its frontmatter.
Reference works
The following sources are consulted regularly and cited where used:
- BirdLife International Data Zone: population estimates, range maps, and Red List status
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology / Birds of the World: species-level treatment and references
- Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Cramp et al. (the BWP)
- The Sibley Guide to Birds, D. A. Sibley
- Collins Bird Guide, Svensson, Mullarney & Zetterström
- The Helm Identification Guides series, various authors
Get in touch
I read everything that comes through the contact form. Questions about a particular species, errata, and review-copy enquiries are all welcome.