‘A winter such as when birds die
In the deep forests, and the fishes lie
Stiffened in the translucent ice, which makes
Even the mud and slime of the warm lakes
A wrinkled clod, as hard as brick; and when
Among their children, comfortable men
Gather about great fires, and yet feel cold;
Alas! then, for the homeless beggar old.’
(Shelley)
These birds are easily capable of crushing beech and hornbeam seeds and so tend to favour those woods, especially in north London. Epping forest is a popular place they sometimes can be seen, as is Bookham common. As colourful as they are they are notoriously secretive and tend to keep to the tree tops, occasionally revealing themselves with an explosive ‘tic’.
