FAQ: How are red squirrels different from grey squirrels?
This information is also available as a downloadable key facts sheet.
Key facts
The red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
Size: between 270 and 340 g in weight.
Appearance: despite their name, red squirrels can have coats ranging from almost black to chestnut or light brown on the back. The chest and stomach are white. They are famed for their characteristically long eartufts, which are especially prominent in winter.
Food: eats mainly tree seeds but in spring and early summer also eats the buds, flowers and shoots of both deciduous and coniferous trees. Other foods include fruits, berries, caterpillars, fungi and even birds’ eggs. Unlike grey squirrels, reds cannot digest seeds with high tannin content, such as acorns, which limits the food sources available for reds.
Distribution: 75% (around 121,000) of the UK red squirrel population is found in Scotland, mostly in the north where strong populations still exist in areas as yet unoccupied by grey squirrels. Red squirrels can also be found in some parts of central and south Scotland as ‘pocket’ populations. The last remaining populations of red squirrels in mainland England are found in Northumberland, Cumbria, North Yorkshire and North Merseyside.
Habitat: typically conifer forests to broadleaf woodland. Favours Norway spruce and Scots pine forests, but also enjoys hazel and beech. They can also live in mountainous areas (with altitudes of 425 metres near Aberdeen).
Threats: Competition from grey squirrels, squirrelpox virus and loss of habitat.
The grey squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
Size: between 542 and 659 g in weight.
Appearance: upper fur is mainly grey with mid-brown along the upper back and chestnut over the flanks, limbs and feet. Their underside is white. The tail hairs are grey, banded with brown and black and a characteristic white fringe. They have no ear tufts, pale ears and have a larger, more robust build.
Food: Grey squirrels share food sources with reds however, unlike reds; grey squirrels can feed on seeds with high tannin content, such as acorns, thanks to differences in digestive physiology. As a result, more food sources are available to them and tend to put on 20% in body weight over the autumn, compared with 10% for reds.
Distribution: 200,000 and 300,000 in Scotland (around three million in England). Grey squirrels have expanded across Scotland’s entire central belt and are now spreading northwards through Tayside, Angus, and Perthshire. There is also a large colony of greys in Aberdeen city which is now spreading across Aberdeenshire and towards Grampian. Greys, some carrying squirrelpox, are spreading into south Scotland from England.
Habitat: prefer oak, beech, sweet-chestnut and horse-chestnut habitats. Due to more efficient digestive processes, these habitats can support larger numbers of grey squirrels than red squirrels. Grey squirrels can also make use of conifer habitats (mainly Scots pine and Norway spruce) especially if there is good broadleaved habitat within 1 mile.
Threats: Minimal, aside from human control efforts and roadkill.
