News: March 2004

The RSPB's 2004 Big Garden Birdwatch was the biggest ever with over 400,000 people taking part in over 247,000 gardens and counting some 8.6 million birds!

There were some very significant results in this the 25th year of the survey. Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) fell from top spot as the most common garden bird to second place behind the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), but both these species have declined dramatically since the survey started in 1979, though neither as much as the song thrush (Turdus philomelos) which has decline by 34%.

Wood pigeons (Columba palumbus) and collard doves (Streptopelia decaocto) are both five times more common in gardens now than when the survey began in 1979. Both these species have benefited greatly from the increasing number of people feeding garden birds.

BBC. 2004. Collard doves' relentless march. Viewed on the web at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3565319.stm on March 25th 2004.