THE willow tit bird is now considered a rare species in the UK, having been added to a red list, and thought to more rare than a southern white rhino.
According to the British Trust for Ornithology, the bird, which is generally timid with a buzz-like contact call, has suffered the "worst population decline of a resident UK bird in recent times".
Willow tit numbers have fallen "sharply" since the 1970s, and the species was red-listed in 2022.
According to the trust, it has become "locally extinct" from some of its former haunts, especially in southern and eastern Britain.
(Image: Michael Dimmick) The trust believes that habitat deterioration is thought to be the main driver of the decline, although the species may be susceptible to "competition from other tit species and predation pressure."
Member of the Hereford Times Camera Club group, Michael Dimmick has spotted the rare bird previously, by the River Wye.
The RSPB says the bird can be identified by the "large sooty-black cap" on top of their heads, which extended to the back of the neck and a small untidy black bib.
They are mid-brown above, with whiter cheeks and pale buff-grey underparts.
The birds have a wingspan of 17 to 19cm, and a weight of between 8 and 14 grams.
(Image: Michael Dimmick) The Wildlife Trust says that the birds are strongly associated with wet woodland, wetlands, and gravel pits.
"Willow tits eat mostly insects, but will also eat berries and seeds when food is scarce in the winter," they said.
"They use their small bills to excavate nest holes in decaying wood, which is unusual among the tit family. The female lays between six and eight eggs in a clutch."
The bird excavates its own nest holes in decaying birch and willow and uses the woodchippings as the base of their nest.