News: March 2003

The results of the RSPB's 2003 Big Garden Birdwatch are in. The starling was the most numerous garden bird with an average of 4.9 per birds per garden. Staggeringly, this figure is down from 15 starlings per garden recorded in the first Big Garden Birdwatch in 1979.

The dramatic decline in numbers of even our most numerous garden birds adds a sobering note to what was an outstandingly successful survey. Over 303,000 participants (myself included) counted the birds in their gardens for one hour over the last weekend in January and 44,000 of those people were children. Irrespective of the results, the tremendous job this survey does in helping to bring people into contact with the wildlife in their garden is invaluable.

The 'top ten' birds in descending order were: starling, house sparrow, blue tit, blackbird, chaffinch, greenfinch, collard dove, great tit, robin and wood pigeon.

Missed the survey? Don't worry, there are plenty of other opportunities to get involved. Follow the source link below to find out more about surveys you can contribute to and to get more information on the results of this year's Big Garden Birdwatch.

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. 2003. Starling takes top spot in bird survey. Viewed on the web at http://www.rspb.org/news/26_march_2003_-_bgbw_results.asp on March 26th 2003.