Birds

Plectrophenax nivalis. There are only 60 breeding pairs in the UK. 10,000 to 15,000 winter in the UK. They are an Amber list bird.

Falco tinnunculus. Kestrels have light brown feathers with dark spots. Male kestrels have blue grey heads while the females are all brown.

Alauda arvensis. Skylarks can be heard or spotted on Cowbar nearly all year but their songs loudly fill the air from March onwards and tail off around October.

Larus argentatus. They differ from the common gull in having a distinctive red spot on their long yellow bill. As you see, they also have pink legs, a white undercarriage & head and silver-grey wings. In winter, adults develop greyish brown streaks on their normally pure white heads.

Corvus Monedula. The Jackdaw proliferates on Cowbar and in Staithes’ folk law, Cowbar inhabitants are known as Cowbar Jackdaws. Presumably because of their historically gregarious, inquisitive and chattering qualities.

Carduelis carduelis These beautiful little birds are cream, brown and buff with flashes of pink, gold, grey, green, red, black, yellow and white. They have a melodic, twittering, silvery song which always includes a tri-syllabic call phrase.