An updated version of this dataset is available at: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/wild_bird_populations_in_england Overall breeding bird populations in England have changed little compared with 40 years ago. In 2010 they were just above what they were in 1970, following a small decline of 1.5 per cent in the most recent five years, from 2004 to 2009. However this masks considerable variation between individual bird species and groups of species that share the same broad habitats.

This statistic shows the estimated number of indoor birds kept as pets in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2010/11 to 2021/22. The population of indoor birds in the UK was estimated to total *** million in 2021/22.

An updated version of this dataset is available at: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/wild_bird_populations_in_england

Provides figures for bird populations in the English regions, covering farmland, woodland and all native birds.

Source agency: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: Wild bird population indicators for the English Regions

UK wild bird populations is now available from here: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/wild_bird_populations

Trends in populations of selected species (wild birds)

UK wild bird populations is now available from here: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/wild_bird_populations

The UK breeding population estimate comprised 50,750 male Eurasian Woodcocks (95% CI: 42,935–59,251) in Britain and 937 males (95% CI: 274–1714) in Northern Ireland. The British population has continued to decline since 2013. To produce UK, British and regional estimates of breeding population size for Eurasian Woodcocks, and to assess the population change since 2003. The 2023 Breeding Woodcock Survey enlisted volunteer surveyors to count birds across a stratified sample of 1230 squares in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The established ‘roding count’ methodology consists of up to three dusk visits, each lasting 75 min, during May and/or June. The results were used to calculate presence and mean density across 48 strata based on wooded area and regions, and extrapolated to produce regional and national estimates of population size. The population in Britain in 2023 was estimated at 50,750 male Woodcocks (95 CI: 42,935–59,251), representing an 8% decline since 2013, and a 35% decline since 2003. Despite small population increases in Wales and England since 2013, the continuing decline was driven by a 49.5% reduction in the population estimate for North Scotland. In 2023, Northern Ireland’s breeding population of Eurasian Woodcocks was estimated at 937 males (95% CI: 274–1714), which is the first estimate produced using this species-specific method. Nationally, populations of Eurasian Woodcocks continue to decline, but the 2013–2023 declines were not as severe as those recorded between 2003 and 2013. The diverging population trends between North Scotland and the rest of Britain raise questions regarding regional variation in habitat suitability/availability and factors influencing overwinter survival. Recommendations are made for future versions of the Breeding Woodcock Survey regarding the composition of the random sample of squares, the treatment of incomplete data, and the sampling of non-woodland habitat.

Vulnerability assessment to high pathogenicity avian influenza predicted mortality at the avian family, but not the species, level. To assess the vulnerability of UK birds to high pathogenicity avian influenza pre-2021/2022 and during the exceptional 2021/2022 season. Two trait-based approaches to vulnerability assessment were tested using surveillance data for the number of reported positive avian influenza detections in the UK. Species-level positive detections varied with population size, body size and colour. Although overall vulnerability assessment was not correlated with positive detections at the species level, components of vulnerability most likely to reflect mortality rates were positively correlated with positive detections pre-2021/2022, but not in 2021/2022. Vulnerability assessment scores were strongly correlated with mean positive detections at the family level (but not species level) in both time periods. Consistency in successfully identifying the most vulnerable avian families suggests predictability in vulnerability, even if species mortality rates vary among outbreaks. Waterfowl, seabirds, other waterbirds and raptors were ranked as most vulnerable. Components of vulnerability most linked to mortality may not be associated with aspects of vulnerability most linked to conservation impact.

1. Land sparing has been proposed as a strategy to reconcile biodiversity conservation with agricultural production, with empirical studies on five continents indicating that most species would benefit if food demand was met through high-yield farming combined with the protection or restoration of natural habitat. 2. Most such studies come from landscapes covered by large areas of natural habitat and without a long history of intense human modification. However, much of Europe, consists of human-dominated landscapes, where biodiversity responses to land sparing may differ. To test this, we use estimates of bird population density in different (semi-)natural habitats, and forecasts of population density in farmland habitat, to assess the future consequences for birds of land-sparing scenarios in the United Kingdom. 3. Our scenarios predict that whilst up to 18 of the 156 species assessed (predominantly farmland associated species) might decline in UK conservation status under land sparing, up to 35 UK bird species (mainly woodland and wetland species) might improve in status. This contrasts with a maximum of 8 species likely to improve in conservation status without land sparing, with up to 7 species deteriorating. 4. Combining land sparing with demand management measures (reducing food waste and the consumption of animal products) led to more positive population changes under all scenarios. 5. Synthesis and applications. Land sparing has the potential to benefit UK bird populations in aggregate but would likely have negative impacts on farmland bird species. These findings are likely to be applicable across human-dominated landscapes beyond the UK, though effects on other taxa, implementation mechanisms, and the sustainability of higher yields all require careful consideration.

This is a dataset derived from the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) used to produce modelled maps of population density for 49 bird species at 1-km square resolution across the UK between 2007 and 2009.

Acknowledgement: These data may be used subject to the appropriate acknowledgement of the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey. Acknowledgements should be in the form of the most recent BBS Report citation, available online, or as follows: “The BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey is a partnership jointly funded by the BTO, RSPB and JNCC, with fieldwork conducted by volunteers.”

Please refer to the metadata for a more detailed description, and for information on dataset usage.

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UK wild bird populations is now available from here: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/wild_bird_populations

Index of the UK population of wild birds - Individual species indices

UK wild bird populations is now available from here: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/wild_bird_populations

population of wild birds - wintering waterbirds: 1975/76 to 2007/08.

This dataset contains summary breeding bird data on RSPB reserves in the UK as part of annual monitoring undertaken by RSPB staff and volunteers. Each species record is the breeding population of the whole reserve area in the given year and presence records have been given where it was not possible to survey the entire area. RSPB reserve boundaries are available on the NBN as a geographical dataset.

The estimated number of ornamental birds owned by households in the United Kingdom has fluctuated each year since 2010. As of 2023, the number of ornamental birds stood at about *** million, the same as the previous year.

An updated version of this release is available at: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/wild_bird_populations_in_england

Life history characteristics, harvest data, population trends and conservation statuses of huntable waterbirds in the UK.

Wintering bird populations for the UK were obtained from the latest published estimates (Frost et al. 2019). The estimate for mallard was increased by 2.6 million birds to account for the annual release of captive-raised birds for shooting purposes (Madden 2021). We estimated a standard deviation for the population estimates by averaging the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS; Frost et al. 2021) index for each species for the winters 2012/13 – 2016/17, which corresponded to the period used to estimate duck populations. We treated this mean index as equal to the estimate from Frost et al. (2019) and then calculated population estimates for each year based on their WeBS indices and calculated the standard deviation of these estimates. Population estimates for greylag goose, pink-footed goose, golden plover, snipe and woodcock were based on single years, but the same time frame was applied to standard deviation estimates in order to account for any interannual differences. The latest (2016) harvest estimates and 95% confidence intervals were taken from Aebischer (2019). Species specific body mass was taken from Robinson (2005). Where sex-specific body mass was reported we averaged male and female masses.

Threats to biodiversity resulting from habitat destruction and deterioration have been documented for many species, whilst climate change is regarded as increasingly impacting upon species' distribution and abundance. However, few studies have disentangled the relative importance of these two drivers in causing recent population declines. We quantify the relative importance of both processes by modelling annual variation in population growth of 18 farmland bird species in the UK as a function of measures of land-use intensity and weather. Modelled together, both had similar explanatory power in accounting for annual fluctuations in population growth. When these models were used to retrodict population trends for each species as a function of annual variation in land-use intensity and weather combined, and separately, retrodictions incorporating land-use intensity were more closely linked to observed population trends than retrodictions based only on weather, and closely matched the UK farmland bird index from 1970 onwards. Despite more stable land-use intensity in recent years, climate change (inferred from weather trends) has not overtaken land-use intensity as the dominant driver of bird populations.

Bird populations are declining globally with losses recorded in many European breeding birds. Habitat management measures have not resulted in a widespread reversal of these declines. We analysed national bird population trends from ten European countries (France, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK) in relation to the species’ nesting strategy (‘ground-nesting' or ‘other’), Annex I designation (‘designated’ or ‘not designated’) and association with agricultural habitats for breeding (‘associated’ or ‘not associated’). For each country in our dataset, we also defined the following factors: farming intensity; predator community complexity; and predator control effort. Our results showed additive effects of nesting strategy, designation, and breeding habitats on the likelihood of population decline. Ground-nesting birds were 86% more likely to decline than birds with other nesting strategies. Annex I designated species of the Birds Directive were 50% less likely to decline than non-designated birds. Birds breeding primarily in agricultural habitats were more likely to decline than birds breeding in other habitats, interactively with farming intensity. Homogenous trends across Europe (i.e., trends in two or more countries that were either not declining in all countries or declining in all countries) indicate that the probability of population decline was related to nesting strategy and breeding habitat, with ground-nesting birds being 15.6 times more likely than other birds to have a declining trend across Europe, and birds nesting in agricultural habitat being 17.8 times more likely than birds nesting in other habitats to have a declining trend across Europe. Our results highlight a widespread challenge, therefore widespread instruments (e.g. legislation, economic policies, agri-environment schemes) will be required to reserve these declines. Ground-nesting species requirements can be complex and multiple strategies will be needed to restore populations including the development of predation management tools. Methods Many countries provide data to the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (PECBMS). We explored the PECBMS web page and the links included therein for each country, to identify if national data on population trends for each species could be obtained. Finally, we obtained national trends data for 10 countries, namely France (FR), Hungary (HU), Ireland (IE), the Netherlands (NL), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Spain (ES), Sweden (SE), Switzerland (CH) and the UK (UK). Specifically, common bird species trends in France were obtained from the monitoring programs coordinated by the Natural History Museum (http://www.vigienature.fr/fr/resultats-especes-3367). These data provided a 20-year trend (1998-2018) for each species. Hungary data from the Monitoring Centre of the Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Association were available at https://mmm.mme.hu/charts/trends and provided species trends for the period 1999-2021. Data from Ireland were available at https://www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/publications/pdf/IWM115.pdf and provided trends for 1998-2016 for each species. Netherlands data were obtained from the monitoring programs carried out by SOVON, the Dutch Centre for Field Ornithology (https://www.vogelwarte.ch/assets/files/publications/upload2019/Zustand%20der%20Vogelwelt%20in%20der%20Schweiz_Bericht%202019_E_low.pdf). These data provided species trends from 1990 to 2016. Polish data were obtained from https://monitoringptakow.gios.gov.pl/database.html, and provided trends for each species for the period 2000-2019. Portuguese data (based on the program organised by the Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves, SPEA) were obtained from https://www.spea.pt/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/relatorio_cac_2021_vf3.pdf, as long-term (2004-2020) trends for each species. Data from Spain were obtained from the monitoring programs conducted by SEO/Birdlife (https://seo.org/boletin/seguimiento/boletin/2018/html5forpc.html?page=0), consisting of long-term trends (1998-2018) for each species. Data from Sweden, showing 1998-2022 trends for each species, were obtained from http://www.fageltaxering.lu.se/resultat/trender. Swiss data were obtained from the monitoring programs carried out by Vogelwarte, the Swiss Ornithological Institute (https://www.vogelwarte.ch/assets/files/projekte/entwicklung/zustandsbericht%202019/Zustandsbericht%202019_e_low.pdf) and consisted of 1990-2018 trends for each species. The UK data were obtained through monitoring programs at the British Trust of Ornithology (https://www.bto.org/our-science/publications/birdtrends/2020/species), providing long-term (1994-2020) trends for each species. In all cases, trends for each species were categorised according to European Bird Census Council (EBCC) definitions (see https://pecbms.info/methods/pecbms-methods/1-national-species-indices-and-trends/1-2-production-of-national-indices-and-trends/trend-interpretation-and-classification) as ‘important decline’, ‘moderate decline’, ‘stable’, ‘moderate increase’, ‘marked increase’ or ‘uncertain. We regrouped the categories as ‘decline’ (either important or moderate) or ‘no decline’, (stability, moderate or important increase, or uncertain trends) to obtain a binomial variable describing the decline probability of a given species in each country.

UK wild bird populations is now available from here: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/wild_bird_populations A yearly update on national wild bird indicators.

Source agency: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: Wild bird national indicators