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July 18, 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?
Stonechat © Kit Day, from the surfbirds galleries
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.
Posted by Surfbirds at July 18, 2008 6:42 AM
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