Ben Hoare
Science writer and author, and editorial consultant, BBC Wildlife
Ben Hoare is a wildlife writer and editor, and proud to be an all-round ‘nature nerd’. He was features editor at BBC Wildlife magazine from 2008 to 2018, and after that its editorial consultant. Ben writes about seasonal natural-history highlights in every issue of the magazine, and also contributes longer conservation stories. His interviews of everyone’s hero Sir David Attenborough remain a career highlight. When not working for magazines, Ben writes illustrated natural-history books for children – the kind of books he adored looking at as a kid. Several have been international bestsellers, no doubt because his two daughters read and test everything first. Ben lives in rural Somerset, UK, with owls and dormice in the garden, and is a keen birder who spends as much time as possible exploring outdoors.
Recent articles by Ben Hoare
This lethal, hairy assassin has a 7cm leg span and is capable of snatching small fish from the water
The raft spider is one of Britain’s biggest arachnids.
Everything you need to know about kingfishers
All you need to know about the common kingfisher
“I’ve never met a good-tempered walrus, they’re always grumpy!” Wildlife filmmaker Doug Allan on filming in the Arctic and working with Attenborough
In an interview originally published in October 2019, BBC filmmaker Doug Allan reflects on an extraordinary encounter with a narwhal and his funniest shoot
70 nesting adults per square metre of cliff face – this is probably the highest nesting density of any bird in the world
Early summer is a busy time of year for Britain's seabirds, as they crowd on coastal cliffs and islands to rear their young.
"It has a lethally large inner toe tipped by a deadly dagger-like claw..." 15 weirdest, strangest birds on the planet, including one that reeks of fresh cow manure
There are plenty of contenders for the weirdest bird list from the 'stinky' hoatzin to the strange-looking secretary bird. Here are our favourite weirdest birds
This elusive bird can be heard up to 5km away – and the sound it makes is extraordinary
The song of the male bittern – the king of the reedbed – sounds like a foghorn.
It looks just like a twig and flies at night – and now is the time to see it
Meet the extraordinary buff-tip moth – one of nature's greatest mimics.
It looks like a crab, runs sideways, can change colour, and lurks in meadows, waiting for unsuspecting prey to wander by
Meet the flower crab spider – the nemesis of meadow-loving insects.
This slithering, fork-tongued creature may look like a snake – but it does something no snake can do
It's mating season for this legless lizard, making it easier to spot – here's how to be sure it's not a snake you're seeing.
Do any birds hibernate?
Are there any birds that can hibernate? Ben Hoare takes a look
It has a dagger beak, red throat and torpedo body – and its eerie cry is echoing across remote lochs
The red-throated diver, or red-throated loon, has one of the most evocative calls in the bird world.
'Water tigers' are lingering in the shallows of rivers and lakes. Here's what they're up to
Spring means one thing for perch – it's time to spawn
"It looks like an extra-terrestrial being that fell to Earth and behaves like a subterranean vampire." 10 weirdest, wackiest plants on the planet...
Meet some of the weirdest and oddest plants on Earth.
A fiery belly, jagged crest and long, broad tail – this may be the closest thing to a real-life dragon
Male great crested newts are at their most dragonesque in spring.
"It has huge back legs armed with dagger-like claws that can reach 12cm long." 10 bonkers birds that break the rules of nature
Discover the extraordinary birds that defy nature’s norms.
This river giant can grow over 1m long, weigh more than 5kg and lay an astonishing 500,000 eggs
Meet the mighty northern pike.
Mysterious red cups are appearing on woodland floors. But they're not fairy baths, as people once thought...
Look to the floor on your next forest walk and you may spot these vivid jewels among the leaf litter, says Ben Hoare.
Fiery eyes, fluffy 'horns' and a strange hoot – meet one of Britain's most mysterious predators
Long-eared owls are one of the most secretive birds in Britain.
Researchers in Oxford have been studying great tits for 75 years. They discovered something odd (and human-like) about their song
As part of the long-running Wytham Wood research project, great tits and blue tits are being studied
It has hairy legs and flies with its tongue poking out – and it could be in a garden near you
Meet the well-named hairy-footed flower bee.
It glows like a fire, looks like an autumn leaf and has just awoken from its winter slumber. Now it's on the hunt for food
Meet the eye-catching comma – one of the UK's first butterfly species to appear in spring.
It has a bizarre beak, is twice as heavy as a robin and uses animal hair to make its nest
Meet the common crossbill, the chunky finch with a taste for pine cones.
It has a bandit mask and punk-rocker crest – and can eat a whopping 1,000 berries a day
Meet the waxwing – the exotic-looking bird with a penchant for berries.
The adorable tree bumblebee is stirring from its winter slumber – and it's hungry
The tree bumblebee is one of the first bumblebee species to appear in spring.
