More than one in four bird species in the UK is in need of urgent conservation action, a new report from the RSPB warns.
The charity has revealed its latest assessment of the status of all the UK’s 245 regularly-occurring bird species.
In all, 70 species, or 29 per cent of the total, are now of ‘highest conservation concern’ and have been placed on the assessment’s Red List.
Bird species now in the Red List – including the Swift, House Martin and Greenfinch – are of the ‘highest conservation priority’ and in need of ‘urgent action’, mostly due to severe population declines, RSPB says.
Bird species now in the Red List include the Swift, House Martin and Greenfinch. Pictured is a European Greenfinch (Chloris chloris) adult in a tree in Northamptonshire
A House Martin (Delichon urbica) about to land between two adults on telephone wire to join gathering in preparation for migration
Overall, the newly-published report – called Birds of Conservation Concern 5 – placed 70 species on the Red List, 103 on the Amber List and 72 on the Green List.
The last Birds of Conservation Concern list was published in 2015, while the first was published back in 1996.
Two species have gone straight from the Green List in 2015 to the Red List in 2021 – the Greenfinch and the Ptarmigan (a small, plump game bird).
RSPB says the report ‘adds to a wealth of evidence that many of our bird populations are in trouble’.
‘This is more evidence that the UK’s wildlife is in freefall and not enough is being done to reverse declines,’ said the RSPB’s CEO, Beccy Speight.
‘With almost double the number of birds on the Red List since the first review in 1996, we are seeing once common species such as Swift and Greenfinch now becoming rare.
‘As with our climate this really is the last chance saloon to halt and reverse the destruction of nature.
‘We often know what action we need to take to change the situation, but we need to do much more, rapidly and at scale. The coming decade is crucial to turning things around.’
Birds of Conservation Concern 5 was compiled by a coalition of the UK’s leading bird conservation and monitoring organisations reviewing the status of all regularly occurring birds in the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man.
Bird species now on the Red List include the Swift, House Martin, Greenfinch, Dunlin, Smew and Goldeneye (a type of duck)
Each species was assessed against a set of objective criteria and placed on either the Green, Amber or Red List – indicating an increasing level of conservation concern.
The last Birds of Conservation Concern list was published in 2015, while the first was published back in 1996.
Worryingly, the Red List now accounts for 29 per cent of the UK species, more than ever before, and almost double the figure (36 species) noted in the first review in 1996.
Close-up of a Common Swift (Apus apus) juvenile that was being looked after before being released, Bedfordshire
Swift and House Martin have both moved from the Amber to the Red List owing to an ‘alarming’ decrease in their population size (58 per cent since 1995 and 57 per cent since 1969, respectively).
These join other well-known birds, such as the Cuckoo and Nightingale, already on the Red list, which migrate between the UK and sub-Saharan Africa each year.
‘Work to address their declines must focus on both their breeding grounds here and throughout the rest of their migratory journey, which requires international cooperation and support,’ RSPB says.
A Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) perched in a tree. The species is on the Red List for 2021
The Common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus): An adult male is pictured here perched on lichen covered branch in Thursley National Nature Reserve, Surrey
The familiar garden bird, the Greenfinch, has moved directly from the Green to the Red List after a population crash (62 per cent since 1993) caused by a severe outbreak of the disease trichomonosis.
This infection is spread through contaminated food and drinking water, or by birds feeding one another with regurgitated food during the breeding season.
Garden owners can help slow transmission rates by making sure that garden bird feeders are cleaned regularly.
Bewick’s Swan, one of two species of swan that comes to the UK each winter, also joins the Red List.
Pressures facing the species include illegal hunting abroad, the ingestion of lead ammunition, and the impacts of climate change.
Wintering waterbirds have been affected by ‘short-stopping’, where they have shifted their wintering grounds north-eastwards in response to milder winter temperatures.
There is concern that the European wetlands they are now spending more of their time in may be drained or exploited in other ways and some are without protection altogether.
Ensuring these areas are designated, protected and managed appropriately will become even more critical in safeguarding the ongoing survival of many of our migrating waterbirds.
On a more positive note, the White-tailed Eagle moves from the Red to the Amber list as a result of decades of conservation work including reintroductions and increased protection.
The population, however, remains low at just 123 pairs nationally.
White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) adult is pictured in flight preparing to catch a fish off the Isle of Mull, Scotland
The White-tailed Eagle moves from the Red to the Amber list as a result of decades of conservation work
White-tailed eagles became extinct in the UK as a result of extensive habitat change and persecution, particularly in the 19th century.
The species is the largest bird of prey in the UK with a wingspan pushing eight feet (2.4 metres) and a body length of up to three feet (90cm).
Before their re-introduction, the birds last bred in England and Wales in the 1830s, in Ireland in 1898 and in Scotland in 1916.
Last year, the species was spotted flying over the Cornwall coast for the first time. Unfortunately, it is still persecuted by gamekeepers because it feeds on birds, rabbits and hares.