![[mail icon]](/images/envelopesmall.gif){kind=small}
email this page to a friendThe biggest ever census of bird numbers was carried out in the summer of 2000 by leading conservation bodies helped by thousands of amateur bird-watchers and the statistics they collected have just been analysed against the results of a similar survey carried out in 1994.
The good news is that most species monitored have increased in abundance, reports the Breeding Birds Survey, jointly organised jointly the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the British Trust for Ornithology and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
Of more than 100 species reliably monitored by the survey, 45 species have increased and 36 species showed no statistically significant change in numbers.
Those increasing include familiar woodland and garden birds such as green woodpecker, robin, wren, dunnock, blackbird, greenfinch and long-tailed tit, many of which have undoubtedly benefited greatly from the run of mild winters that we have experienced over the past few years.
 |
 |
The bad news is that 18 species have declined significantly between 1994 and 2000, many of them farmland species. Five species red-listed - i.e., dwindling so fast as to face possible extinction - have declined by a further 20%.
|
These include two arable farm specialists - corn bunting and grey partridge -as well as bullfinch, turtle dove and spotted flycatcher. Other species continuing to experience declines include the red-listed skylark and others on the so-called "amber list" which, although not declining so fast, are still giving cause for concern.
The statistics include:
| Six species already Red-listed continue to decline: | |||
| Corn Bunting | -35% | Grey Partridge | -22% |
| Bullfinch | -25% | Spotted Flycatcher | -21% |
| Turtle Dove | -24% | Skylark | -8% |
| Two Red-listed species increased: | |||
| Tree Sparrow | +25% | Song Thrush | +12% |
| Increasing Amber-listed species: | |||
| Stonechat | +115% | Green Woodpecker | +22% |
| Marsh Tit | +45% | Swallow | +21% |
| Redstart | +45% | Blackbird | +13% |
| Sand Martin | +39% | Goldfinch | +11% |
| Sand Martin | +39% | Goldfinch | +11% |
| Snipe | +35% | Dunnock | +8% |
| Other species showing increases: | |||
| Goldcrest | +87% | House Martin | +34% |
| Great Spotted Woodpecker | +55% | Greenfinch | +34% |
| Sedge Warbler | +55% | Whitethroat | +26% |
| Blackcap | +49% | Pied Wagtail | +25% |
| Buzzard | +41% | Wren | +24% |
| Grey Wagtail | +41% | Long-tailed Tit | +22% |
| Other species showing decreases: | |||
| Wood Warbler | -43% | Swift | -18% |
| Lesser Whitethroat | -20% | Yellowhammer | -12% |
| Cuckoo | -19% | House Sparrow | -5% |