12 Days of Chrismas: Four Calling Birds

Four calling birds at Harewood House Bird Garden.

As part of our seasonal march through the '˜12 Days of Christmas' song, we bring to you '˜four calling birds', in this case four guinea fowl, which reside in the hallowed grounds of Harewood House Bird Garden.

These four were hatched last year, according to manager Nicholas Dowling, who looks after the garden and its many varied residents, which also include cranes, kookaburras and red legged seriemas, which they plan to mate.

The YEP's 12 Days of Christmas

“They are quite hardy birds, they originate from Africa but they are now feral in this country and they make quite a noise, to the extent that some people even use them as an early warning against foxes, because whenever they see a fox or a dog, they start calling.”

Nicholas, 34, who lives in Otley, has worked at Harewood for two years, prior to which he was at Edinburgh Zoo and Bristol Zoo before that.

“I’ve always been interested in looking after animals and birds in particular have been a passion of mine, so I love my job.”

Harewood House Bird Garden will be running ‘meet the penguin’ days throughout the festive and new year period for children aged seven and above.

For more information, contact the Visitor Experience Team on 0113 218 1000 or [email protected].