
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.

David Attenborough is turning his attention to Britain’s backyards in new BBC TV series – here’s everything we know so far
In an upcoming TV series for the BBC, David Attenborough is looking at the incredible wildlife found across Britain’s gardens

A snake the weight of a grizzly bear and a giant centipede that hangs from cave ceilings – meet 11 of the Amazon's deadliest animals
From a huge carnivorous centipede to a tiny poisonous frog, here are some of the of the deadliest creatures in the Amazon.

The wildlife traveller's calendar: Plan your year around these wildlife spectacles
Seek wildlife holiday inspiration with this month-by-month travel calendar

This “unique and crazy” prehistoric fish is the size of a door. Now thousands are being released into a remote Swedish river
The Atlantic sturgeon was driven to extinction in Europe by the middle of the 20th century. In Sweden’s Göta River, a pioneering rewilding initiative is helping this ancient fish to reclaim its ancestral home

It’s almost twice the size of Washington state and stretches 18 miles down into the Earth’s crust – and it’s underwater too
What’s the largest volcano on Earth? Well, scientists don’t think that it’s on land at all…

“One of the most memorable moments in British television.” David Attenborough’s most ambitious project celebrated in new TV film
Filmed in the 1970s, the BBC’s Life on Earth helped make television history

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.

It's made from 1,500 tiny white feathers, bound together with spider silk and takes up to 3 weeks to construct
When it comes to intricacy, few animal nests can compete with those constructed by long-tailed tits. This is how they make them

Birds

These giants were planted by the Victorians. Now little birds sleep inside them
It’s easy to see how the treecreeper got its name…

Impaling on spikes, water bombing and stabbing – birds are more brutal than you realised. Here's 5 gruesome techniques they use to kill
Discover the brutal techniques used by some British birds to catch their prey - from impaling on spikes through to stabbing

7 astonishing underwater kingfisher photos that show the beautiful bird is just as at home below the surface as above it
These remarkable photographs show how a kingfisher dives and the ingenious way it is adapted for underwater

Forget gender wars! These bizarre birds have had equality sorted for some 44 million years - watch them in action
These ground-loving birds mate for life and work together to protect their young

Power and majesty of bald eagles revealed in 16 staggering photos
Spectacular images of bald eagles – from the snowy mountains of Alaska to the dramatic inlets of the Canadian coast.

“Like being in the middle of a snow globe.” Thousands of noisy white birds are flooding into Pennsylvania, Missouri and Maryland
A whiteout of wings and a riotous racket signal the departure, or arrival, of these beautiful birds
How to identify wildlife

Red squirrel vs grey squirrel: Think you know how they differ? Think again as the differences between these two squirrels will surprise you
We take a look at how the red squirrel differs to its American grey cousin

Brown rat or water vole: How to tell the difference between these two lookalike-rodents
When all you've seen is a flash of brown fur, it can be hard to know whether it was a water vole or rat. Though the two species tend to live in different habitats, there are areas where they overlap, potentially leading to cases of mistaken identity. So how do you tell rats and water voles apart?

Mink or otter? What's the difference between these two slippery, semiaquatic lookalikes?
How do you tell the difference between otters and mink?

LRPs, PG Tips and Jizz: Cracking the secret language of birders
You’re sitting in a hide and overhear other birders talking. The conversation ranges from ‘LRPs’ and ‘roosting Leos’ and you scratch your chin as you try to decipher their code – welcome to the world of birding jargon.

It's the fastest animal in the world and its deadly claws can catch prey mid-air: Meet one of the world's most incredible birds of prey
Peregrines are the ultimate urban predator. Learn all about them, including how to spot them ‘stooping’ to catch prey

Save 30% when you subscribe to BBC Wildlife Magazine, plus receive Simon Barnes’ latest release, Spring is the Only Season
Save 30% when you subscribe to BBC Wildlife Magazine, plus receive Simon Barnes’ latest release, Spring is the Only Season
Plants

It’s longer than a blue whale, is thousands of years old and drinks fog – meet this weird ‘living fossil’
This living fossil (having unchanged for more than 200 million years) can survive some of the harshest conditions on Earth

Plants play techno, chimps drum and one creature uses its minuscule penis as a bow – why music isn’t just for humans
It’s not just the hills that are alive with the sound of music – ponds and oceans thrum with tunes, too

It’s taller than Big Ben, can live for thousands of years and even regenerates after an entire forest burns down
Did you know the tallest tree species in the world can grow to more than 100 metres? Learn all about them

Does a tree know it's being eaten?
Can a tree protect itself if being eaten?
