Urban animal: fast and furry

Most of the mammals that have found a place to live in our cities lead a rather secluded life being active late in the evening or early in the morning, or even at night (like bats). The one species that you are likely to encounter during the day in large parks, in urban woodland and even in housing estates planted with oaks, is the Squirrel. In Britain this urban squirrel is almost exclusively the Grey Squirrel that originated in America. In Europe -except for some enclaves in Italy and France- the resident rodent is the Red Squirrel. Squirrels are distant cousins of mice, rats, Guinea pigs, voles and beavers.

Squirrels come in several natural shades; they are best-known as being (orange) red (shown right), hence the name Red Squirrel. The underside is always white or cream, the rest of the coat can vary from black via deep brown to red and a sandy yellow. The subspecies fuscoater from South Germany and Austria is dark brown in colour (left). These arboreal omnivorous rodents are important for the spread of some trees as they stash large quantities of seeds like acorns as winter food. In autumn (middle) they can be seen carrying winter food to a cache.  

Urban animal: parks and gardens

Cities are often seen as ecological wastelands; this couldn’t be further from the truth. That is to say that the urban landscape provides different habitats than some rural or natural areas. Also parks and gardens –the more natural elements of the urban landscape- provide important habitats for both plants and animals.

The use of pesticides has all but wiped out wild bee populations in many rural areas. For some species the urban garden is the last refuge. All those paved gardens are certainly no help, but as long as there is food the animals will come. Some species are very picky, but others will happily feed on cultivated Lavender. Some wild plant –here Marjoram- are so beautiful that they deserve a place in the garden, thus attracting insects like this butterfly. In parks and on road verges the trend is to create more natural vegetation thus attracting wild bees, like this bumblebee on a thistle.

It is not just insects that are attracted to gardens and parks. Friends in Germany have these lizards living in their garden wall. This appropriately named Wall lizard favours man-made structures over natural rock formations. In some places parks and gardens are the last refuge for the Hedgehog. A messy corner in the garden makes them very happy indeed. Especially if there are lots of snails and slugs. The Black slug –which can also be brown- is common everywhere where there is vegetation.

Urban animal: curious corvids

The Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of passerine birds that contains some of the most intelligent birds known to man that display self-awareness, spatial memory and the ability to use tools. In English this bird family is usually known as the crow family after one of its most common members the Carrion crow. Together they are known as corvids after the Latin name for the crow Corvus. These birds with black plumes are not closely related to Black birds.

The Magpie (Pica pica) is now more common in the urban landscape than in its natural half open habitat of hedgerows and scattered trees. These striking bird with black and white plumage- although in the right light the black feathers reveal themselves to be iridescent green and blue- are highly intelligent. The same sheen can be seen on the Carrion crow (Corvus corone). These birds are the same size as the Magpie, they differ in the overall colouration and the long tail. The Common raven (Corvus corax) is another “black” corvid. This bird with a blue sheen is larger than the other two species of corvids. All are opportunistic, omnivorous and intelligent birds.

The Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) is quickly becoming one of the most common birds in urban areas. These gregarious, very intelligent birds have excellent spatial memory and will even recognise human faces. They are not truly black but rather darker and lighter shades of grey. They will often operate in groups. In autumn these family groups merge into larger flocks. It is the smallest corvid size wise.

Urban animal: black birds

Many birds have been named "black bird" as a result of their predominantly black colouration. Most of these birds are unrelated to each other and certainly not related to the Common blackbird found throughout Europe and West-Asia. Originally a shy forest dweller these songbirds have become more widespread in the urban environment from the 1950s onwards as parks and large gardens started to mature. Like rabbits, blackbirds are especially common in modernist (Corbusian) housing estates with apartment blocks set amongst parkland and greenery.

Only the males deserve the name black birds, the females are a duller dark brown. They can be seen foraging for worms, snails and insects in the undergrowth, under hedges and on lawns and other short grassland. They like to make nests in hedges, dense bushes or ivy. Sometimes a young chick falls out and is fed on the ground by the parents until it can fly.