Robins flying up our charts!
RSPB Scotland’s Big Garden Birdwatch shows that robins and tree sparrows have moved up the “charts” in our gardens.
Over 43,000 people across Scotland, including 3,028 in the Highlands, took part in the big Birdwatch this year, spending an hour counting the birds in their garden over the weekend of January 24 and 25.
Overall more than 632,000 birds were counted in Scotland. In the Highlands house sparrows took the top spot. Across Scotland house sparrows stayed at the top of the rankings, while starlings moved up one place to second and chaffinches moved down a place to third.
Both robins and tree sparrows saw big climbs in the top 20. Robins moved up three places to number six and were Scotland’s most widespread garden bird after being seen in more than 91.4 per cent of gardens. Tree sparrows are now perched at number 16, their highest position for 10 years. Coal tits took the biggest tumble in the top 20 falling from number nine in 2014 to number 13 in 2015.
Keith Morton, Species Policy Officer at RSPB Scotland said: “It’s great that so many people took part in this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch. Both house sparrows and starlings, the top two birds in our 2015 results, are red list species, and so your results help us at RSPB Scotland to paint a picture of how they and other birds are faring over winter.”
Across the UK this year’s results indicate that the long term decline of house sparrows appears to have continued to slow, and it is the most commonly spotted bird in the UK. However, they remain a conservation concern as numbers have dropped by 57% since the first Birdwatch in 1979. Starlings are also of high concern having dropped in numbers by an alarming 80 per cent since the first Birdwatch.
Keith added: “Big Garden Birdwatch helps us understand some of the trends in bird numbers. However, a decline in ranking in one year doesn’t necessarily mean a cause for concern. For example warmer weather overseas might explain why some of our winter visitors aren’t so plentiful in the Birdwatch results this year.”
There was a notable decline in the number of some winter migrants that were spotted over the Birdwatch weekend. Both bramblings and waxwings dived down the rankings although this may have more to do with the good conditions on the continent over the winter, reducing the need for these birds to migrate here.”
To find out how you can give nature a home where you live visit: rspb.org.uk/homes
