News from the RSPB site

This weekend (24-25 January) more than three million Big Garden Birdwatch hours will be clocked up as the RSPB marks 30 years of the event.

Last year more than 2100 people in Herefordshire spent an hour recording the birds in their garden. With up to half a million people taking part each year across the UK, the survey has made a major contribution to tracking garden bird numbers over the winter.

Over the last 30 years, Big Garden Birdwatch has highlighted the winners and losers in the garden bird world. It was first to alert the RSPB to massive declines in song thrush numbers. The song thrush was a firm fixture in the top 10 in 1979. In 2008, its numbers were less than half those recorded in 1979, plummeting to 22nd in the rankings.

The survey has also shown the increases in collared dove and wood pigeon numbers and the alarming declines of the house sparrow and starling.

Dr Mark Avery, the RSPB’s Director of Conservation, said: “As well as contributing to our understanding of the changes in bird numbers, Big Garden Birdwatch does a fantastic job of inspiring adults and children about nature. It allows hundreds of thousands of people each year to enjoy wildlife in their own gardens and that’s priceless.”

More recently, through the Birdwatch, the RSPB has seen the effects climate change.

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