News Releases - July/Aug 2006 - Item 2

No. 2006/07/25 - issued by BTO, on behalf of BTO, JNCC and RSPB
Embargoed until 00.01 Monday 3 July

Welsh Cuckoos and Yellowhammers cause concern

Each year, hundreds of birdwatchers go out with notebooks to count the birds in Wales, as part of the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey. The high rate of coverage across the whole of the UK means that we are able to report on changes in bird populations for Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as the UK overall.

Overall picture in Wales:

• More than 70,000 individual birds of 139 species were counted on 269 1-km Ordnance Survey grid squares across Wales in 2005.

• This enabled us to monitor the changing numbers of 51 species in Wales. Of these, 7 species declined significantly and 23 species increased significantly between 1994 and 2005. No species declined by more than 50%, but Curlew, Cuckoo, Garden Warbler, Willow Warbler, Starling and Yellowhammer showed moderate declines (25–50%). Increases greater than 50% were recorded for Great Spotted Woodpecker, Swallow, House Martin, Blackcap, Great Tit, Jackdaw, Raven, House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Nuthatch and Treecreeper. However, numbers of the last four species have fluctuated considerably year to year.

• The Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) is administered by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). Across the UK, voluntary Regional Organisers play a vital role in coordinating the efforts of local birdwatchers. Volunteer birdwatchers are assigned 1-km squares that they visit three times in the season. Having got up very early in the morning, each volunteer spends about two hours counting all the birds they see and hear along their chosen 2-km route.

• The BBS started in 1994. This carefully designed, yet simple survey has attracted many participants. The good level of coverage throughout the UK means that we are able to report separately on changes in bird populations in Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as for the UK overall.

SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS

Record volunteer participation

A record-ever total of 269 Welsh BBS squares was surveyed by volunteers in 2005. This enables us to continue to follow the changing numbers of more than 50 common and widespread bird species in Wales.

House Sparrows find a haven in Wales

House Sparrow numbers have more than doubled on BBS sites in Wales since 1994. Welsh House Sparrows, in common with those in Scotland continue to increase, in contrast to the declines experience by their neighbours in much of England, particularly in the south and east. Results from the BTO’s Garden BirdWatch also indicate declines in these areas, but relative stability in Wales.

Yellowhammer continues to decline

Yellowhammers have declined by 11% in Wales between 2004 and 2005 and are now down by 44% on the numbers recorded in 1994. Yellowhammers are declining throughout much of the UK (Scotland excepted), but in Wales the situation is particularly severe. This most attractive of farmland birds is more widespread in arable dominated eastern England, and was recorded on more than 70% of surveyed BBS sites in the East Midlands in 2005, compared to only 14% in primarily, pastoral Wales. Reductions in winter food availability, due to the loss of winter stubbles and the reduction in the amount of weeds, are widely believed to have contributed to the population decline of this primarily seed-eating species, and it is hoped that new agri-environment schemes in Wales (e.g. Tir Gofal) will improve conditions.

Cuckoos cause concern

The Cuckoo, although showing few biological similarities to the Yellowhammer, is nevertheless, undergoing a similar pattern of decline to this species, with numbers showing little change in Scotland, but declining in England and Wales, where numbers have fallen by 16% between 2004 and 2005 and by 32% since 1994. The reasons for this decline remain unclear, since numbers of key host species, such as Dunnock and Meadow Pipit have increased in Wales in recent years. As with most long-distance migrant species, conditions on their wintering grounds in Africa can have a dramatic effect on the numbers that return to breed the following spring. Severe declines in populations of favoured caterpillars are another possibility.

Notes to Editors

Red-listed* species increasing in Wales during 1994-2005:

None

Red-listed* species decreasing in Wales during 1994-2005:

Amber-listed* species increasing in Wales during 1994-2005:

Amber-listed* species decreasing in Wales during 1994-2005:

None

* These classifications are based on ‘The population status of birds in Wales – an analysis of conservation concern 2002-2007’.

Additional Notes

1. The Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) is administered by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) from its headquarters in Thetford, Norfolk. Across Wales, 14 voluntary BTO Regional Organisers play a vital role in coordinating the efforts of local birdwatchers.

2. The results from the BBS are designed to monitor a wide-range of common birds across all habitats. The survey started in 1994 and has now replaced the long-running Common Birds Census, which was largely restricted to farmland and woodland habitats. The results from both schemes provide a unique monitoring system for the UK’s common breeding birds.

3. Changes in the status of breeding birds are used by Government in their headline indicator of sustainable development in the United Kingdom.

4. The BBS is a line-transect survey carried out on randomly selected 1-km squares of the National Grid. During the breeding season, each observer firstly makes a single visit to record the habitat and then two visits to count the birds.

5. The BBS is a partnership between the British Trust for Ornithology, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (on behalf of the Countryside Council for Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage, Natural England and the Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

6. The report, the Breeding Bird Survey 2005, is included with this news release. This important survey is carried out by volunteer birdwatchers throughout the UK, who receive no financial reward or expenses for their efforts. We are indebted to them for their tremendous support.

For further information please contact:

Mike Raven, David Noble, Graham Appleton
on 01842 750050 or e-mail: press@bto.org during office hours
John Lloyd (BTO Honorary Welsh Officer) on 01550 750202

Graham is available outside office hours - mobile 07974 668503

Images to use alongside this story can be obtained from BTO by e-mailing
(this service is available outside office hours)

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