You might hear its song in your garden or see a flash of feathers on a woodland walk, but this unassuming species is the most common bird in Britain.
We've pulled together the most recent bird population data in the UK to identify the nation's most widespread bird species...
In fact, the winning species was actually selected in our round-up as one of the cutest animals in the UK.
The commonest bird in Britain
The wren is believed to be the most common species of bird in the UK. The British Trust for Ornithology undertook a major survey in 2020 into the population estimates of birds in Great Britain and the United Kingdom, and found that there were an estimated 11 million breeding pairs of wrens in the UK, of an overall sum of 84 million breeding pairs of birds.
It retained its top spot as the UK’s commonest bird from the previous study in 2013, when it was shown to have a population of 8.5 million pairs. The increase in numbers has been put down to the milder winters we have experienced in recent years.
- How do birds stay warm during winter? Discover the amazing secrets of feathers and how they keep birds toasty whatever the weather
- Guide to bird nests: how to identify different species nests
The wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) was on top of the list, followed by the robin (7.35 million pairs), house sparrow (5.3 million), wood pigeon (5.15 million), chaffinch (5.05 million) and blackbird (5.05 million).
The top five commonest birds are all garden birds, which are also studied as part of the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, a survey that takes place every year. In 2024, more than 610,000 people took part, and the house sparrow was found to be the most commonly spotted, with 1.422 million sightings. It has been top of the list for 21 years now, but their numbers have significantly decreased over that time.
Find out more about the Big Garden Birdwatch and how to get involved here, and if you're keen to get involved, consult our guide on how to photograph garden birds.
Top image: A wren sings a tune (credit: Getty Images)