Britain is famously a nation of wildlife lovers. But with a 68% drop in wild animal populations since 1970, it’s more important than ever to look out for the natural world.
This gift guide is packed with animal-friendly wildlife gifts. It includes shelters for birds, bees and hedgehogs, as well as wildlife cameras, so your favourite nature lover can see nocturnal creatures up close and personal. There’s also a range of accessories like binoculars and bat detectors, themed gifts and books.
Jump to:
- Wildlife shelter gifts
- Wildlife camera gifts
- Themed wildlife gifts
- Wildlife accessories
- Wildlife books
Wildlife shelter gifts
Shesali Artisan Bird Nester
With bird populations declining, it’s more important than ever to provide them a home. Handwoven from recycled saris by Fairtrade workers in Bangladesh, this hanging nesting box is practical as well as pretty.
Price: £19.95
Buy the Shesali Artisan Nester from Ethical Superstore
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National Trust CJ Wildlife Build Your Own Nest Box Kit
For a more hands-on approach, check out this nest box. It makes a great project to teach kids about DIY, or for an adult to have a relaxing 20 minutes of building. All of the FSC wood panels are ready cut, and all the screws and nails are included. Because the wood is plain, you could paint it in any colour you like, too.
Price: £13.99
Buy the National Trust CJ Wildlife Build Your Own Nest Box Kit at CJ Wildlife
Navaris XL Wooden Insect Hotel
Insect populations are rapidly declining, but bug hotels can help to reverse this trend. The Navaris XL Wooden Insect Hotel has different kinds of habitats for a variety of different insects. We particularly like the wide bamboo tubes for solitary bees, which avoids the problems created by other designs where insects can become trapped and infested with parasites.
Price: £20.99
Buy the Navaris XL Wooden Insect Hotel on Amazon
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Wildlife World CSVBB Conservation Bat Box
Bats make up a quarter of all British mammal species. Often maligned, these nocturnal marvels help to keep mosquito populations under control. They’re also under-appreciated pollinators, spreading pollen on their fur as they flit between trees. Give bats a permanent roost, with this Wildlife World bat box.
Price: £69.99
Buy the Wildlife World CSVBB Conservation Bat Box on Amazon
Wildlife World Ceramic Frog & Toad House
Frogs and toads are a crucial part of the wild British food chain. They’re a great friend to gardeners, as they love to eat slugs and other plant pests. This amphibian house will keep them moist and cool in summer and insulated in winter.
RRP: £32.99
Buy the Wildlife World Ceramic Frog & Toad House on Amazon
Nature Oasis Bird Bath & Drinker
Birds always need clean, standing water to drink and wash themselves. This pretty bath from the RSPB looks like hand-carved stone, but is actually a cheap, eco-friendly mix of recycled plastic and bamboo.
Price: £19.99
Buy the Nature Oasis Bird Bath & Drinker from the RSPB
Wildlife camera gifts
Crenova Wildlife Camera
The Crenova wildlife camera suits almost every wildlife lover. No matter what they want to capture, this is a versatile general-use trail camera, shooting 20MP stills and up to 4K videos, with a good IP66 waterproof rating. Crucially, it also comes with a 32GB SD card, so it’s ready to go straight away.
Price: £94
Buy the Crenova Wildlife Camera on Amazon
Technaxx Full HD Birdcam TX-165
This wildlife camera is designed with birds in mind. Fill the tray with bird seed to attract our feathered friends. The focal angle is designed for up-close footage of birds only, but if you want to get great footage of small birds like robins, finches and wrens, this camera is hard to beat.
Price: £93.48
Buy the Technaxx Full HD Birdcam TX-165 on Amazon
Toguard H20 16MP 1080P Mini Trail Camera
For a wildlife camera that doesn’t break the bank, try this model. This little camera is much smaller than the standard size, so it’s great for placing in tight spots to capture smaller animals, but it’s also good for capturing birds and foxes. It’s half the price of most other cameras, so it’s worth considering as a low-budget option.
Price: £47.27
Buy the Toguard H20 16MP 1080P Mini Trail Camera at Toguard
RSPB Nest box camera system
Nest boxes provide valuable shelter for birds, but with a camera inside, you can observe them. This nest box camera kit offers a fantastic peek into behaviour that you’d otherwise never see. The box is made of FSC-certified timber and the camera produces full colour images during the day, has LEDs for night vision and a microphone to record any sound made by the birds. The small entry hole makes it best suited for blue tits, grey tits and sparrows, but you can take the front off for a larger entryway that attracts robins and wrens.
Price: £149
Buy the RSPB Nest Box Camera System from the RSPB
Themed wildlife gifts
Seedbom Birds, Bees and Butterflies Seed Bomb Set
Wet one of these seed bombs and toss into nearby soil to help take care of wildlife. Each bomb has a specially-designed mix of beneficial wildflowers to tempt pollinators.
Price: £16.95
Buy the Seedbom Birds, Bees and Butterflies Seed Bomb Set on Ethical Superstore
Bucket List Prints National Park Posters
Inspired by the grand posters designed for American national parks and iconic British railway ads, Bucket List Prints offers a range of modern posters tributing our national parks – everywhere from Loch Lomond to the South Downs. They also plant a tree for every poster sold.
Price: from £25
Buy Bucket List Prints National Park Posters on Etsy and Bucket List Prints
Garden Birds Enamel Mug
This Garden Birds Enamel Mug is just the thing for a cup of tea in the garden or on the allotment. The illustrations might help you to identify bird species that stop by.
Price: £9.99
Buy the Garden Birds Enamel Mug from Wayfair
Edinburgh Natural Skincare Co. Gardener’s Hand Cream Bar
This solid hand cream is made with gardeners in mind. Handmade in Scotland, this fragrant hand cream comes in a reusable tin. With lavender, bergamot and ylang ylang, it’s ideal for soothing cracked hands after a long day in the garden.
RRP: £12
Buy the Gardener’s Hand Cream Bar on Amazon
Wildlife accessories
Celestron 71257 UpClose G2 10×50 Porro Binoculars
Wild animals won’t always stay still as you try to watch them and they might be far away. Binoculars make it easier to see fast-moving creatures, whether they’re in the sky or on the ground. Our friends at BBC Sky at Night recommend this pair, which are cheaper than the market average of about £200. They even come with a lightweight tripod and carry bag.
Price: £74.64
Buy the Celestron 71257 UpClose G2 10 x 50 Porro Binocular on Amazon
Magenta Bat 4 Bat Detector
Contrary to popular belief, bats aren’t actually blind, but do rely on their hearing, locating prey through echolocation. While echolocation is usually too high for human ears to hear, this bat detector will pitch it down to noises we can hear, helping you to identify bats as they race by in the dark.
Price: £70
Buy the Magenta Bat 4 bat detector from the RSPB
Bee Revival Keyring
Help bees on the go with this nifty keyring. It contains a syrup mix of fructose and glucose, so you can help struggling bees if you spot them while out and about you. The packing also has wildflower seeds inside – if you rip up the paper you can plant it and grow some bee-friendly wildflowers.
Price: £10.99
Buy a Bee Revival Keyring on Amazon
Pop-up Folding Camouflage Hide
For quick camouflage while birdwatching, check out this pop-up hide. It can be ready to go and stored away in seconds, so you can spot and photograph birds without disturbing them.
Price: £64.99
Buy a Pop-up Folding Camouflage Hide on Decathlon
Breathable Silent Camo Jacket
Keep warm and hidden with this camouflage jacket. It’s great for birdwatching, as it doesn’t rustle as you move, which means you won’t disturb them.
Price: £29.99
Buy the Breathable Silent Camo Jacket on Decathlon
Wildlife books
RSPB Pocket Nature Wildlife of Britain
This concise guide to British flora and fauna is helpful in the garden or on walks in the countryside. It features illustrated identification guides to more than 1,000 species. It even includes the silhouettes of birds and bare trees, so you can identify them in winter or from a distance.
Price: £16.99
Buy the RSPB Pocket Nature Wildlife of Britain from the RSPB and Amazon
The Birdwatcher’s Logbook
Dedicated bird watchers will need to keep records of the birds they’ve seen and heard. This essential log book contains all 626 avian species ever seen in Britain, from indigenous to migratory birds, so your favourite ornithologist can tick them all off their list.
Price: £9.99
Buy The Birdwatcher’s Logbook from the RSPB
On the Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin
“One general law, leading to the advancement of all organic species…”
Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species is one of the most influential books ever written. In it, he lays out the process of evolution via natural selection. This handsome hardback is a replica of the 1860 second edition, Darwin’s favoured edition of his most well-known work.
Price: £12.99
Buy On the Origin of Species from the Natural History Museum and Amazon
The Forager’s Calendar, by John Wright
Both foodies and growers will love this guide from River Cottage’s forager, John Wright, who shows how to find delicious – and free – treats to eat beyond the vegetable patch. From berries to mushrooms to tree saps, it’s packed with year-round inspiration.
RRP: £12.99
Buy The Forager’s Calendar on Bookshop.org
Walden, by Henry David Thoreau
“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.”
Walden is Henry David Thoreau’s account of his period of isolation between 1845-47 in a 3x4m cabin on Walden pond. The cantankerous scientist, philosopher, poet and adventurer explores topics as varied as bean farming, fishing, ancient literature, the evils of the railway, and his imprisonment for civil disobedience. Foundational reading for all nature lovers.
Price: £6.29
Buy Walden on Amazon
Teaching a Stone to Talk, by Annie Dillard
“I tell you I’ve been in that weasel’s brain for sixty seconds, and he was in mine.”
In this collection of short essays, Pulitzer winner Annie Dillard recounts and reflects on her encounters with the wild. She takes us from her dizzying, snowblind expeditions to the North Pole, her meetings with the finches of the Galápagos, a terrifying account of a total solar eclipse and a striking encounter with a wild weasel.
Price: £9.99
Buy Teaching a Stone to Talk now from Amazon
The Invention of Nature, by Andrea Vulf
“‘Nature everywhere speaks to man’, said Humboldt, ‘in a voice familiar to his soul’”.
Through an account of the expeditions of the Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, Andrea Wulf charts the development of the very idea of nature. Wulf reveals how Humboldt’s adventures in South America worked to synthesise disparate strands of philosophy, geography, biology and literature into the collection of things we call nature – everything that isn’t us or made by us.
Price: £6.99
Buy The Invention of Nature on Amazon
This product guide was last updated in February 2024. We apologise if anything has changed in price or availability.
from BBC Gardeners World Magazine https://ift.tt/cTYBn2M
