Bird populations that make the great journey between northern Europe and Africa – including the nightingale and turtle dove – are drastically declining, conservationists have warned. Nearly half of the 29 summer migrants, who appear in the UK in spring to breed before returning in the autumn, show long-term population declines. The nightingale, famed for […]
Tag: rspb
Illegal bird deaths continue to rise in UK
Cases of the illegal persecution of British birds are continuing to rise, according to the latest figures from the RSPB. The Birdcrime report, published on Friday, shows there were 208 reports of the shooting and destruction of birds of prey in 2012, including confirmed shootings of 15 buzzards, five sparrowhawks and four peregrine falcons. In […]
‘Shocking’ decline of UK countryside birds revealed
Some of Britain’s most familiar countryside birds have plummeted in numbers since the 1990s, and some species have disappeared from parts of the UK, according to an authoritative annual report. Numbers of the farmland-dwelling grey partridge have halved since 1995, while the turtle dove has declined by 95%. The yellow wagtail, which inhabits farm and […]
Isles of Scilly rat eradication to ‘save seabirds’ begins
A project aimed at protecting internationally important seabird populations on two of the Isles of Scilly by killing more than 3,000 brown rats, is under way. The islands, which are located off Cornwall, are home to breeding populations of 14 seabird species and approximately 20,000 birds. Eradication experts from New Zealand and the UK have […]
Spoon-billed sandpiper numbers boosted by conservationists
Critically endangered spoon-billed sandpipers fledglings have increased in number by a quarter in 2013, after conservationists from WWT intervened to hand rear chicks. As few as 100 breeding pairs remain in the wild, rearing just 60 young between them each year on average. The 16 additional hand-reared young are a significant boost for the species, […]
M&S grouse meat could come from illegal source
Conservationists say grouse meat on sale in Marks and Spencer stores could come from estates where birds of prey are illegally shot in order to maximise the food supply. There are also concerns over the risks to human health from meat shot with lead ammunition. Two M&S stores in London began stocking red grouse on […]
Controversial herring gull cull gets green light
Owen Paterson, the environment secretary, has given the green light to a controversial cull of endangered sea birds on the Ribble Estuary in Lancashire, the Guardian has learned. The RSPB said it is “extremely concerned” that the cull of up to 475 breeding pairs of herring gulls and 552 breeding pairs of lesser black-backed gulls […]
Specieswatch: European eagle owl
The European eagle owl Bubo bubo is not a popular bird. It is very large and ferocious, and although it lives and successfully nests in Britain it is officially regarded as an alien and a danger to our own birds of prey because it does not like to share its hunting territory. Foxhunts have further […]