Where to see ring ouzel in the UK

How to find ring ouzel

Half the ring ouzels reported turn out to be blackbirds in strong light, so it's worth being clear about the difference: a ring ouzel has a clean white crescent across the chest, paler wing panels, and a scaly look to the body plumage. A male blackbird in bright sun can show a pale wash on the breast, which is where the confusion comes from.

They are birds of high, rocky ground — moorland edges, crags, gullies with scattered rowan — and they are notably wary. Where a blackbird would tolerate you at fifteen metres, a ring ouzel typically flies at fifty and drops out of sight behind a ridge.

Two chances to see one. Breeding birds hold upland territory from April to July, mostly in the Pennines, the Peak District, Snowdonia and the Highlands. And on passage in spring and autumn they appear well away from the hills, often on coastal grassland and downland, sometimes for a single day.

For breeding birds, walk the base of crags and listen. The song is loud, simple and repetitive — a few clear piping notes with long pauses — and in the acoustics of a gully it seems to come from everywhere at once.

Numbers have dropped substantially over recent decades and the reasons are not fully understood, so treat any sighting as worth reporting to your county recorder.