Ring Ouzel

The Ring Ouzel is a summer visitor to the UK, spending the winter in north western Africa and southern Spain. It is a characteristic breeding species of the UK uplands above the 250m contour line.

Typical nesting territories for the ring ouzel are found on heather moor and sheep walks bisected by water courses. These areas contain steep sided gullies, scree slopes or crags often with scattered trees. Territories can therefore be arranged in a linear fashion along streams and burns which seems to be the case in Northumberland National Park. Nest building usually occurs on the ground, in or under mature heather, although trees, bracken and derelict buildings are sometimes used.

Adult ring ouzels will also fly considerable distances to forage in different habitat types, feeding on earthworms principally but also on other invertebrate food such as ants as well as butterfly, moth, beetle and fly larvae.

Close cropped rough grazing on fertile loam soils, enriched grassland around pens or stock feeding sites and in-bye pasture are used especially when the adult ring ouzel is feeding nestlings. From mid summer, berries of bilberry, crowberry, hawthorn, bramble, elder, juniper and rowan are taken. It is reported that spiders, moths and grasshoppers are taken in their winter quarters but these would also be available in mid to late summer in Northumberland National Park.

To find out more about what we are doing to help Ring Ouzels please download our Species Action Plan: Ring Ouzel (35kb).