Counting wild birds in the UK: the top 10 of 2019

It is not surprising that the British enthusiastically count the birds in their gardens every year. The United Kingdom has a great deal of natural beauty to offer. What were the findings of the latest Big Garden Birdwatch? And which garden birds were spotted the most?

During the weekend of 26 to 28 January 2019, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) organised its annual Birdwatch, already for its fortieth edition. The bird-loving Brits participated enthusiastically in the event. As many as 472,758 counters registered. This gives us a very representative picture of the state of the bird population on the British Isles.

Sparrow takes gold

The top-8 has not changed. For the sixteenth year in a row, the house sparrow is the most spotted bird in British gardens, with just under 1.2 million sightings. Which is not surprising. The house sparrow likes to be close to people, in the city and in the countryside. In recent years, the house sparrow has been spotted less and less. They are seen in much smaller numbers now compared to when the Birdwatch started – the Big Garden Birdwatch shows a 56% decline. This trend, however, has slowed in the past 10 years.

Starling: in spite of everything, second

The starling takes second place. In Wales, this social bird, which likes to eat fruit and imitate other birds (even car alarms!), came in third last year, but in 2019 he beat the blue tit to second place. Despite this great performance, the number of starlings has unfortunately dropped by a dramatic 77% since 1979. Song thrushes, too, (today in 20th place), had such a decrease.

The top ten are completed by the blue tit (3), blackbird (4), wood pigeon (5), goldfinch (6), great tit (7) and robin (8). Newcomers in the top ten are the chaffinch (9) and the magpie (10).

Compared to the European mainland, certain families are much better represented on the British Isles. Great Britain is the place to be for tits (blue tits, coal tits and great tits) and starlings.

Cold spring takes its toll

However, smaller birds are currently struggling in the United Kingdom. There is a large decrease in the number of long-tailed tits (-27%) and wrens (-17%), which were still present in large numbers in 2018.

The reason for this decline is probably the particularly bad weather that hit the British Isles in May 2018. In addition to an unusually long and cool spring, the country also had to deal with an anticyclone that supplied cold, arctic air. It remains to be seen whether these species will recover by the next count, in the last weekend of January.