Field guide to the most commonly encountered mammals and birds

Here, we provide some basic information regarding commonly observed species (plus some others about which we have had queries).  

Feel free to contact us by email if you have any questions regarding species you have encountered on the site.

For more information about mammals, we recommend the Mammal Society's species hub, here, and MammalNet here. For birds, excellent resources are available from the RSPB (here) and the BTO (here).

 

Common UK Mammals All UK Mammals Common UK Birds All Species All Deer

Horse

 
 

Scientific name: Equus ferus 

Family: Equidae

Size: varies greatly

Weight: varies greatly

Notes: Horses were domesticated by humans at around 4000 BC, with more than 300 breeds in the world today. They reach adulthood by around five years old, and live between 25 and 30 years. The size and weight of horses vary greatly by breed, from miniature horses to a giant Shire horse that was 220 cm high and weighed 1500 kg. Horses can run fast, have a strong fight-or-flight response, and can sleep standing up or lying down. Genuine wild horses are very rare, and ones you see in the wild are likely feral horses, which are descended from domesticated horses.

 

 (C) Scott Kinmartin (shared under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license)