Press Releases - July/August 2008
Item 5

No. 2008/07/24
July 2008

Issued by BTO on behalf of BTO, JNCC and RSPB
Embargoed until 17 July 2008

More Chatting and less Warbling
in the Welsh valleys

Latest results from the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) show that the distinctive orange-and-black Stonechat has increased by 338% in Wales since 1994. The BBS is the primary source of information about our countryside birds, and results from the 2007 survey show that while Stonechats are increasing, woodland birds such as Willow Warbler and Goldcrest are doing less well in Wales than in the rest of the UK.

Meteoric rise of Stonechats in Wales
In the 1980s Stonechats were confined to the western fringes of the UK, driven by harsh winters and habitat fragmentation to coastal heathlands warmed by the Gulf Stream. Now their populations are recovering across the UK, and numbers in their Welsh strongholds are skyrocketing – Stonechat numbers increased by 338% since 1994, and continued to rise between 2006 and 2007. Is this an indication of climate change?

Woodland birds Willow Warbler and Goldcrest down in Wales.
The woodland species Willow Warbler and Goldcrest, both birds of conservation concern, declined significantly in Wales by 20% and 33% respectively since 1994, despite increasing, or remaining stable, in the UK as a whole. Many woodland birds are declining generally, perhaps due to increasing numbers of deer browsing the forest under-story, or forest management practices changing the structure of our woodlands. However, it’s not all bad news for woodland birds in Wales – Long-tailed Tit (+58%) and Treecreeper (+60%) showed significant increases in Wales, despite no significant changes in the UK overall.

We need more birdwatchers!
We are able to follow the fortunes of birds in Wales thanks to volunteer birdwatchers, who walked a collective 1,500 km for the BBS in 2007, and counted over 76 thousand individual birds of 134 species. These counts are essential for keeping track of Welsh bird populations, but there are many birds for which we don’t have enough information to monitor in Wales. Welsh birdwatchers suspect that the Stonechat’s cousin, the Whinchat, is in serious decline in Wales, but to find out, we need more birdwatchers to cover BBS squares in Wales! We’d urge anyone interested in taking part next year to find out more at www.bto.org/bbs.

Notes for Editors

• The Breeding Bird Survey started in 1994, and is simple but carefully designed, attracting many participants. The good coverage throughout the UK means we are able to report changes in many populations in detail, reporting specific trends for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and the nine English Government Office Regions, as well as for the UK overall.
• Details of all the above trends can be found in the BBS report. The full title of this report is The Breeding Bird Survey 2007 by Kate Risely, David Noble and Stephen Baillie. More information can be found at www.bto.org/bbs, and the report can be downloaded from www.bto.org/bbs/results/BBSreport07.pdf
• BBS press releases specific to Scotland and Wales have been produced.
• Changes in the status of breeding birds are used by the Government to set conservation priorities, and population trends are used as indicators of progress towards sustainable development.
• 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. Volunteer Regional Organisers co-ordinate the volunteers in their regions, matching birdwatchers with randomly selected 1-km squares to survey. The observers make two early-morning visits to their squares during the breeding season, and record all birds seen and heard along two 1-km walks across their square.
• The BBS is a partnership between the British Trust for Ornithology, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC is the statutory adviser to Government on UK and international nature conservation, on behalf of the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside, the Countryside Council for Wales, Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

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

For further information please contact:
Kate Risely (BBS National Organiser) on 01842 750050 or e-mail: (office hours)
Paul Stancliffe (BTO Promotions Officer) on 01842 750050 or e-mail: (office hours)
John Lloyd (BTO Wales Officer) on 01550 750202
Stuart Thompson (RSPB Head of Public Affairs, Wales) on 02920353011 (office hours)
or 07747475471 (out of hours)
David Noble (Head of Census Unit, BTO) on 01842 750050 or e-mail: (office hours)
Graham Appleton (Head of Publicity, BTO) on 01842 750050 or e-mail:
Graham Appleton is available outside office hours on 07704 847935