Category Archives: Birds
Magpie Controversy Erupts in the Media
British ecological controversy has suddenly found itself in the media glare, as wildlife charities publicly dispute the role of magpies in limiting songbird populations. The Songbird Survival Trust has urged people to trap and kill magpies over the next three … Continue reading
RSPB Supports Plans to Build More Wind Turbines
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has called for a significant increase in the number of wind farms in the UK, after a new study found far more turbines could be built onshore without harming wildlife. The RSPB … Continue reading
‘Save the Albatross’ Campaign a Remarkable Success
The outlook for endangered albatross species has dramatically improved, thanks to the success of an international conservation programme implemented by the RSPB and Birdlife International. The Albatross Task Force (ATF) was established in 2006 in order to reduce the number … Continue reading
Return of Set-Aside Schemes for Farmers
Environment secretary, Hilary Benn has announced new proposals to bring back payments for farmers who set aside areas of uncultivated land to promote biodiversity and environmental benefits. The system of subsiding farmers for setting-aside areas of land from agricultural production … Continue reading
Tristan Albatross Faces Imminent Extinction
Tristan Albatross chicks are raised exclusively on Gough Island, a UK Overseas Territory. Sadly they are being predated by ‘killer mice’ at such an unprecedented rate the species faces imminent extinction unless urgent action is taken. Government funding to tackle … Continue reading
House Sparrows Continue Precipitous Decline
Speaking on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme, Conservation Director of the RSPB Dr Mark Avery, described the troubling plight of the House Sparrow Passer domesticus. According to a recent study in the journal Animal Conservation by scientists from the RSPB, … Continue reading
Windfarm Bird Impacts Overestimated
New research published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology suggests the impact of wind farms on farmland birds is less serious than previously thought. Dr Mark Whittingham and co-authors focused their study on farmland birds overwintering in … Continue reading
‘State of the UK’s Birds Report’ Reveals Climate Change Effects on Bird Species
The annual ‘State of the UK’s Birds’ report, produced by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), the RSPB, and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, along with the statutory conservation agencies for the four UK countries (Countryside Council for Wales, Natural … Continue reading
Seabirds Sensitive to Local Impacts of Climate Change
A paper published recently in the journal Global Change Biology, has shown how local impacts of climate change affect seabird populations of the common guillemot Uria aalge and the thick-billed guillemot Uria lomvia around the Northern Hemisphere. Climate change may … Continue reading
British Bird Phylogeny Could Predict Future Bird Declines
An unique and insightful piece of research on British birds has recently been published by Dr Gavin Thomas in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. For the first time a phylogeny (taxonomic family tree) of British birds has … Continue reading