This doesn't fully answer your question, but is more of a side note - but don't be afraid to buy a 2nd hand 10 or 20 year old DSLR, with the kit lens, and a couple of lenses at higher zoom - for the cost of pretty much nothing, you can work out what does or doesn't work for you.

The weight hasn't changed much in any of the standard DSLR ones, so you can go in a modern camera shop and pick up one of those to get an idea of the weight you're after - then just find an older one from the same series 2nd hand in cash converters or eBay or whatever.

They might have comparatively lower pixel resolution than these days, but even a prosumer DSLR from ~2010 was good enough to produce "international exhibition" quality photos.

Spend your other £950 once you realise what your current kit is lacking.

In terms of brands, it's just your normal camera brands (Nikon, Canon EOS etc) - but if you were to look at the website of "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" and look at all the winning entrants, the additional info will tell you exactly what camera they used - which may be a useful guide as to what they're using at the top end.

You don't need the same as what they're using at the top end, by the way. As said, a 20 year old entry-level DSLR will absolutely work fine!

used DSLRs are cheap nowadays, Canon or Nikon bodies from 15-20 years ago are plenty capable for bird photography, most advancement of last decade have benefited video recording more than stills. may want to put you money on good lenses. for canon EF 300mm f4 L would do, you can go also go cheap with some new chinese telephotos, but many lack autofocus, which may be an issue for birds that don't stay still for long

I have photographed a lot of birds with an Olympus E-M1 II and a Panasonic 100-300 II. It should be easy to find the body and lens for under £1000 on the used market, and the pair is just under 1100g.

If you can spend more, the OM-1 is a significant upgrade because it has bird detect autofocus and a bigger buffer, but if you're not always at a long distance, extra money might be better spent on a second lens. The Olympus 12-40/2.8 is outstanding.

To start, get an older 2nd hand dslr. I have a Nikon d90 from the early 2000s and still don't find a need to buy a better body. Spend the rest of your budget on a good lens or 2. It will outlive your camera.

Mirrorless? Used Canon R7, I use mine with a 100-500mm and its amazing for wildlife!

I would first and foremost consider a few generations old flagship or prosumer model from a reputable used seller like usedphotopro or mpb. They'll check over the units, give it a grade on quality (sometimes cosmetic blemishes will get you a great deal) and they will give a warranty for everything for a few months as part of the deal.

With interchangeable lens cameras you're mostly buying into a lens system so think along those terms. ie... if you buy a canon you have to buy lenses that fit on canon's mount and sometimes there are limitations for 3rd party glass that canon, for example, lock out if you don't buy their first party stuff.

Canon's prosumer DLSRs can be gotten for a good price and have a lot of options. Things like the 7Dmk2 or the 5Dm4. IDK about Nikon. Personally I would also say to take a look at micro four thirds cameras. OM systems (Olympus) you can get a great deal on some of their stuff that works really well and will be feature rich (some really great optical and in body image stabilization), and the m43 system being physically smaller you will have a much lighter kit to carry around. I picked up an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II and I use it for bird photography regularly. I'm probably in maybe $700 with a camera, 3-4 lenses, new batteries and a bag for that whole setup. Olympus and Panisonic (Lumix) cameras both use the m43 mount (since it's basically open source) so lenses are mostly interchangeable and there are lots of third party lenses... also they're usually cheaper than larger system lenses like canon and nikon. The RAW files I get from my OM camera are much smaller than the ones I get from my canon which is also nice.

Since you're talking about birds, I would suggest considering m43 and aps-c because of the "reach" you'll get from telephoto lenses due to the extended crop factor. I do a lot of my bird photography with the OM camera and an Olympus m.zuiko lens that's 40-150mm... but because of the 2x crop factor on m43 it makes it basically an 80-300 and because it has IBIS and it weighs nothing I makes for good stable not blurry hand held shooting.

Plan a bit but don't spend a bunch until you know what you are actually finding a use for. I have a bunch of lenses but I mostly find myself using that 40-150mm and my fast 45mm portrait lens on that camera. Since you're talking about bird photography then a zoom that gets you into a 300-400mm telephoto equivalent is a really good starting point. That's a good amount of reach while still being able to hand hold without a lot of blur and still able to focus on things closer. If you find scenarios where things are too far or too close, that is when you can start considering a new lens.

Nikon Coolpix P950

It's a super zoom, but that's OK, lens alone on a mirrorless system will eat up your budget if you want something for birding. Get a really good tripod, that will last you decades.

there are great articles, guides, and reviews on

https://www.dpreview.com/

Camera research is my recent autistic interest.

…Thing is, mirrorless cameras are expensive, and £1000 is a tight budget. I regret some cheap purchases I made.

If your budget is strict, look for a bargain on a used Panasonic or OM/Olympus camera, plus some lens longer than 200mm+ matching the brand. But these are notoriously wonky with autofocus, unfortunately, and M43 is kind of a dead lens mount.

More ideally, look for some used Sony A6000-series body, then save up for their 70-350 lens. This is basically the perfect birding setup, as even older Sony bodies are great at autofocusing on animals. The 70-350 is a fabulous lens for the price, and common enough to find used.

This is also a better “upgrade path,” as Sony E is just a fantastic lens mount. There are tons of great value lenses available if you want them for something else, like landscapes or family shots or whatever.

I'd agree with most here, a used dslr with a good lens is probably the best. I got mine new many years ago, but I love it, it's a canon 5D mk2. Apparently you can find some used ones for a pretty good price now (it is almost 20 years old....) and with a good lens it should fit the budget.

To my understanding there are a handful of really high end pocket computers that are good enough for entey level photo qnd video.

So much so that camera companies can't compete. If you actually want a dedicated device like a camera. Anything worth while would be around 5k USD new. Otherwise a phone ~1.4k-2.0k will be "good enough"

This was before the ai bubble though.