Fulking Bird Watch

This bird list represents sightings that have been made within the parish boundary of Fulking over the last 21 years. It is by no means complete and, to become more comprehensive, requires sightings of other wild birds to be reported. If you have seen a bird locally that you would like to add, please give me a call on 271. There are many good birdwatching guides, but I have found The Birds of Britain and Europe by Hermann Heinzel, Richard Fitter and John Parslow, published as a Collins Pocket Guide, to be very helpful and of a manageable size.

Bob Rowland

(with thanks to Jen Green, Lee Holden, Barry Leppard and James Lightfoot for their contributions to the list)

Barn Owl Blackbird Blackcap
Black-headed Gull Blue Tit Brambling
Bullfinch Buzzard Canada Goose
Chaffinch Chiff Chaff Coal Tit
Collared Dove Common Gull Coot
Cormorant Crow Cuckoo
Dunnock Feral Pigeon Fieldfare
Firecrest Garden Warbler Goldcrest
Goldfinch Goshawk Great Spotted W’pecker
Great Tit Green Woodpecker Greenfinch
Greylag Goose Grey Heron Grey Wagtail
Herring Gull Hobby House Martin
House Sparrow Jackdaw Jay
Kestrel Kingfisher Lapwing
Lesser Redpoll Lesser Spotted W’pecker Little Egret
Little Owl Long Tail Tit Magpie
Mallard Marsh/Willow Tit Mistle Thrush
Moorhen Mute Swan Nightingale
Nuthatch Peregrine Pheasant
Pied Wagtail Raven Red Kite
Red Legged Partridge Redstart Redwing
Ring-necked Parakeet Robin Rook
Short Eared Owl Siskin Skylark
Snipe Song Thrush Sparrowhawk
Spotted Flycatcher Starling Stock Dove
Swallow Swift Tawny Owl
Treecreeper Turtle Dove Water Rail
Wheatear Willow Warbler Wood Pigeon
Wren Wryneck Yellowhammer

If you click on the name of the bird, then a new window or tab will open with a set of relevant images courtesy of Google. If you click on the symbol that follows the name of the bird, then a new window or tab will open with an audio recording of the bird courtesy of xeno-canto. Click the symbol to play the recording. If you then click the code number (e.g., XC143445) at the top of that window, you will be taken to a page with further information about the recording.
Henry_Stannard's drawing of a cuckoo, published in 1897
Local bird resources

  • Henfield Birdwatch organizes surveys of birds in the parish of Henfield, offers monthly bird walks, and runs the Henfield Owl Project. A new bird survey begins in January 2014.
  • Sussex Wildlife Trust has its headquarters at Woods Mill at the southern edge of Henfield parish. In addition to a hide and visiting water fowl, the reserve boasts nightingales, turtle doves, warblers and woodpeckers. And, for the would-be twitcher, Mike Russell offers courses on birds, birdwatching and birdsong every year.
  • Sussex Ornithological Society provides the most comprehensive source of information about Sussex birds. They hold an annual conference, record sightings, organize numerous walks, and publish occasional summary books (see below), a quarterly newsletter, the annual Sussex Bird Report (back issues available from the Society or via Amazon), and the Sussex Bird Atlas 2007-11, some 2000 maps on a CDROM.

Books about Sussex birds

  • Adrian Thomas, ed. (2014) Birds of Sussex*. Thetford: British Trust for Ornithology. [The book consists of over 600 full-colour pages with photographs for over 250 species, all taken in Sussex. There are distribution maps with associated text for all the key species, and chapters on habitats, climate, bird conservation, bird ringing and migration in the county.]
  • Don Taylor, Jeffrey Wheatley & Paul James (2009) Where to Watch Birds in Kent, Surrey and Sussex. London: Christopher Helm. [Each site is described in terms of habitat, species, access and birds. The book is illustrated throughout with line drawings and maps of each site.]
  • Adrian Thomas & Peter Francis (2003) Best Birdwatching Sites in Sussex. Peterborough: Buckingham Press [Covers almost sixty sites with maps, access instructions, and the birds you are likely, and not so likely, to see.]
  • Paul James, ed. (1996) Birds of Sussex. Storrington: Sussex Ornithological Society. [A systematic list of birds seen in Sussex together with distribution maps, histograms and tables, with over sixty line drawings.]
  • Michael Shrubb (1979) Birds of Sussex — Their Present Status. Chichester: Phillimore. [The author was a founding member of the Sussex Ornithological Society, instigated bird surveys in the county and was the society’s bird recorder for seven years. This book describes the situation as it was in 1976.]
  • Grahame des Forges & Denzil Dean Harber (1963) A Guide to the Birds of Sussex. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.
  • John Walpole-Bond (1938) A History of Sussex Birds. London: Witherby. [Three volume work with coloured plates by Philip Rickman, a secondhand copy is likely to cost you over £200.]
  • Edward Thomas Booth (1896) Catalogue of the Cases of Birds in the Dyke Road Museum, Brighton, second edition. Brighton: King, Thorne & Stace, PDF. [A local curiosity dating from the days when a birdwatcher could document a sighting by shooting the bird and mounting it in a glass case. The museum still exists and is now known as the Booth Museum of Natural History.]
  • William Borrer (1891) The Birds of Sussex. London: Porter, PDF.
  • Alfred Knox (1849) Ornithological Rambles in Sussex with a Systematic Catalogue of the Birds of that County and Remarks on their Local Distribution. London: John van Voorst, PDF.

*Locals can buy and collect a copy from Val Bentley in Henfield, thus saving P&P.
Email her for details at .

Diagram of bird from J. Maclair Boraston (1909) British Birds and their Eggs. London: W&R Chambers, page x.

Diagram that names the external parts of a generic bird. From J. Maclair Boraston (1909) British Birds and their Eggs. London: W. & R. Chambers, page x. [Click on the image to see a larger and more legible version.]


Page updated 24th, 26th January 2014; 17th August 2014; 2nd May 2016.