Chinnor Hill is a biological

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

east of

Chinnor Chinnor is a large village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England, about southeast of Thame and close to the border with Buckinghamshire. The village is a spring line settlement on the Icknield Way below the Chiltern escarpment. Sinc ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

. It is managed by the

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) is a Wildlife Trust covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part ...

. This hill has species-rich

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcare ...

grassland,

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

scrub, which is an uncommon habitat, mixed scrub and woodland. More than 300 species of

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes (, ) or collectively tracheophyta (; ), are plants that have lignin, lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified Ti ...

have been recorded and 65 of birds. Many

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

s breed in the scrub, and

thrushes The thrushes are a passerine bird family, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flycat ...

such as

redwing The redwing (''Turdus iliacus'') is a bird in the thrush family, Turdidae, native to Europe and the Palearctic, slightly smaller than the related song thrush. Taxonomy and systematics This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1 ...

s and

fieldfare The fieldfare (''Turdus pilaris'') is a member of the thrush family Turdidae. It breeds in woodland and scrub in northern Europe and across the Palearctic. It is strongly migratory, with many northern birds moving south during the winter. It ...

s feed on berries in the winter.

References

{{Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Oxfordshire

Hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...