Since 1999 the state of the UK’s birds reports (SUKB) have provided an overview of the status of the UK’s breeding and non-breeding bird species in the UK and its overseas territories.
This year’s report, the first since 2017, highlights the continuing decline in fortunes of the UK’s woodland birds.
One of the headlines of the report is that the willow tit is the UK’s fastest declining resident bird. Numbers have dropped by 94% since 1970 and a third since 2008 with just 2,750 birds left in the UK.
The UK’s willow tit is an endemic subspecies and the second fastest declining after the turtle dove. The populations of five other woodland birds – the lesser spotted woodpecker, lesser redpoll, spotted flycatcher, capercaillie and marsh tit – are all less than a quarter of what they were 50 years ago.
Woodland birds in general have declined by 27% since the 1970s and by 7% in the last 5 years.
The report also found that there had been a decline of 45% in the numbers of farmland birds in the last 50 years, due in part to rapid changes in farmland management in the 1970s and 80s. Water and wetland birds fared better with an average decline of 12%. Birds that inhabit wet grassland, such as lapwings, redshanks, and snipes, showed the worst decline, while birds that live in slow or standing water such as mallards and tufted ducks increased.
To help assess the conservation status of different species the report looked at how the relative abundance had changed over time. It estimated that there are 83 million pairs of native breeding birds in the UK, 19 million fewer pairs than in the late 1960s. Because the numbers of some birds have increased, wrens for examples, the overall number lost is actually bigger at around 43 million pairs.
House sparrows have been hit the hardest with 10.7 million pairs lost since 1966. The wren population has increased by 6.5 million pairs and it is the most abundant bird in the UK with 11 million pairs, followed by the robin with 7.3 million pairs.
11 natives species with populations of over 2 million pairs make up over 60% of all the UK’s breeding birds. After wrens, robins, and house sparrows, the next most populous birds are wood pigeons (5.2 million), blackbirds (5 million), chaffinches (5 million), blue tits (3.4 million), dunnocks (2.5 million), meadow pipits (2.5 million), great tits (2.4 million), and willow warblers (2.3 million).
The findings from volunteers who take part in the BTO’s Garden BirdWatch (GBW) provided important data for the SUKB report. The survey helps to find out how, when, and why wildlife use areas around our homes.
Over the last quarter of a century nearly nine million lists of garden birds have been recorded for the GBW. This works out at about 7,000 lists a week and records have been received from over 56,000 different gardens across the UK.
A positive story from the GBW is the increase in numbers of goldfinches. In 1995 they were the 20th most counted bird but they now stand at the 8th. This is most likely due to a change in garden feeding practices and more understanding of the different kinds of food species prefer.
Unfortunately, the GBW survey found that it’s a less positive outlook for greenfinches, who have been affected badly by trichomonosis since 2005. Greenfinches are most often spotted in gardens during April and May but in recent years reports have dropped from around 80% of gardens to around 40%. An upside to this is that more people are becoming aware of the importance of good hygiene practices when feeding the birds in their gardens.
The GBW surveys also found that chaffinch numbers have started to decline, perhaps also affected by trichomonosis. Peak months are February and March during which numbers have declined from 80% to 60%. This pattern is also reflected in a downturn in the breeding population of chaffinches.
Song thrush numbers have also declined although the BTO does not yet understand why. In February 1996 song thrushes were recorded in almost half of GBW gardens, but since then their numbers have been gradually declining, despite have remaining stable in the wider countryside.
Some UK birds are too rare or too scarcely distributed to be monitored by random sampling methodology used by the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). Instead most of these species are monitored by the Rare Breeding Birds Panel (RBBP).
For many species, particularly those found in remote and upland areas, reporting is incomplete and it is not possible to produce trends. Other species, such as the turtle dove, have only recently been added to the list of species the RBBP report on and they hope to run the first turtle dove survey next year.
In contrast to some of the large declines in the UK’s most widespread birds many of the UK’s rare breeding birds have increased.
Bitterns have recovered from a low of just 11 males in 1997 and there have also been increases in cranes, stone curlews, white-tailed eagles, corncrakes, red kites, and cirl buntings through targeted conservation action such as reintroduction programmes, habitat creation, and land management.
It should be noted that despite these recoveries numbers are still lower than before historic population declines.
Birds of prey, such as ospreys, peregrine falcons, and marsh harriers, are also recovering due to a let up in persecution and the reduction in organochloride pesticides. Hen harriers remain a notable exception with a short-term decline caused by illegal persecution.
Some species owe their recovery to climate change. As well as colonising species such as the black-winged stilt and spoonbill, increases in species such as the Dartford warbler and hobby may also be due to a warming climate
It’s not all good news though. In 2015 wrynecks were classified as ‘former breeders’ in the UK by the Birds of Conservation Concern 4 assessment. And fieldfares and golden orioles could be going the same way with no confirmed breeding by the latter species since 2009.
SUKB 2020 is produced by a coalition of three NGOs: the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), together with the UK’s statutory nature conservation bodies: Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland (DAERA), the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), Natural England (NE), Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and NatureScot.
You can download a full copy of the report here.
One Response
It is very sad to read of the decline in Britain’s endemic woodland birds. The little Willow tit is exquisite. Living in Australia most of my life I have never seen the. Is there a way for me to help Britain’s birds that are declining?