Birds of Fulham Cemetery

Woodpigeon
Columba palumbus

I’m always amazed at how tame city woodpigeons are. In the country, they know better than to come within gunshot of any human!

Feral pigeon
Columba livia

They benefit (along with the squirrels) from the people who feed them.

Robin
Erithacus rubecula

One of the few birds which keeps singing into autumn.

Blackbird
Turdus merula

The best singer of the lot. (Photo is of the male.)

Carrion Crow
Corvus corone corone

Usually territorial, but gatherings of at least fifty can be seen on the river at low tide.

Magpie
Pica pica

I once saw thirteen together in the cemetery, all chattering away at each other.

Jay
Garrulus glandarius

Never become as tame as their fellow corvids, the Magpie and Carrion Crow

Great Tit
Parus major

This and the next three are all familiar garden birds.

Blue Tit
Parus caeruleus

Dunnock
Prunella modularis

Wren
Troglodytes troglodytes

Rose-ringed Parakeet
Psittacula krameri

Not everyone’s favourite, but anyone annoyed by their raucous calls will be pleased to know that they are a frequent prey for our local peregrines (see below).

Redwing
Turdus iliacus

Migratory thrushes from Scandinavia which winter in Britain. Small parties regularly in the cemetery from October on.

Song Thrush
Turdus philomelos

More often heard than seen, their bold song from the lime trees along Fulham Palace Road competes with the traffic noise.

Green Woodpecker
Picus viridis

Characteristic laughing ‘yaffle’ call alerts you to its presence.

Goldcrest
Regulus regulus

Britain’s smallest bird. Rarely seen, because it spends most of its time fairly high up in the coniferous trees.

Swift
Apus apus

This year (2025) was the first one in which I saw no swifts over Fulham, perhaps reflecting the species’ decline in Britain.

Herring Gull
Larus argentatus 

Frequently seen flying up from the river. Probably also Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus (difficult to distinguish from Herring Gull when high in the air), and possibly also Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus, although these tend to stick closer to the river.

Chiffchaff
Phylloscopus collybita

Unmistakeable call – ‘chiff–chaff’, just like its name. In recent years (a feature of climate change) many chiffchaffs and blackcaps (below) now overwinter in Britain rather than migrating, and some come here from parts of Europe with colder winters.

Blackcap
Sylvia atricapilla

One of the finest singers – an unbroken chattering stream ending, as the books describe it, in ‘clear, slightly melancholy flute-like notes’.