British birds take a swoop

By Lisa Cardy

SOME OF Britain's best loved birds are dwindling in numbers, government statistics reveal. The kestrel, skylark and grey partridge are among those breeds in decline. Even the common sparrow has fallen in numbers.

Both woodland and farmland species are in long-term decline. Farmland species have dropped 41% and woodland species 14%, way below population figures for the 1970s. Overall, 26 species of birds are falling in numbers, but encouragingly 35 species are on the increase.

It's also good news for rarer birds. which have doubled in numbers in the last 30 years. Species, such as the bittern, corncrake and stone curlew have benefited from the attentions of conservation groups and farmers, who receive payouts for encouraging birds onto their agricultural land.

Mild winters also helped increase the survival rate of many small birds, such as the wren. Due to their small size, these are normally badly affected by cold weather.

Michael Meacher, the environment minister, commented on the figures as he joined schoolchildren in London's Hyde Park. While filling seed and peanut holders at a bird table set up as part of a pilot project by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), he said that the success of rare bird numbers shouldn't make us complacent. We all have to do our bit and make a concerted effort that will benefit all species of bird.

Conservation experts, however, blame government policies for the situation. Graham Madge of the RSPB, says: 'We are lacking the real policy fix that will get bird populations back up to where they were in the 1970s.' Chris Mead of the British Trust for Ornithology, which compiles the figures the government uses, says: 'It will take years to turn round the declines, even if the policies are right.'

The government conceded that the conservation of more common birds, such as the skylark, required more extensive changes in the way the countryside was managed.

What about you, will you respond to Meachers' appeal and do your bit to help British birds survive this winter Or, should the government listen to the conservation experts and invest more in agricultural schemes that encourage birds into an area Click here to have your say.