The Big Garden Birdwatch is a great way for children to get outside and involved in nature, and it fulfills a useful tool in helping the RSBP record how birds are faring across the UK. To encourage and support the conservation of birds we have a collection of beautiful factual books, filled with information about these special creatures.

The birdwatch takes place during over the last weekend in January when the RSPB asks you to spend an hour watching and recording the birds that visit your garden between 24 and 26 January. You can then upload your findings to the website or send them in by post, contributing to the world's largest garden wildlife survey. The most commonly spotted bird in the 2024 Birdwatch was the house sparrow, with the blue tit coming in second, followed by the starling and woodpigeon and in fifth place the blackbird. 

The RSPB has a free guide to help you identify the different birds you might spot, and tips and advice on attracting wildlife to your garden. And you can find resources to help you identify and record birdlife in your playgrounds, gardens, parks and local countryside here, including counting sheets and pictures of the most common birds found in Britain this time of year. There's even a recipe for making your own birdcake!

Find out more about the Big Garden Birdwatch at rspb.co.uk.

Here are our favourite bird-spotting non-fiction books and a few stories about caring for birds - perfect for fledgling ornithologists...with thanks to Angela Harding for this stunning feature image of blackbirds in the winter, taken from Birds.

And if your children love birds we can highly recommend The Twitchers by M. G. Leonard, a mystery adventure series celebrating friendship, bravery and the incredible world of birds. Perfect for independent readers aged 8-12, there are four books in the series and each can be read alone or as part of the series. Find out more in this interview with the author.