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title: "‘Shocking and sobering’: UK bird populations fall to lowest level on record"
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# ‘Shocking and sobering’: UK bird populations fall to lowest level on record
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/oct/13/uk-bird-populations-fall-to-lowest-level-on-record (www.theguardian.com)
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‘Shocking and sobering’: UK bird populations fall to lowest level on record
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Nearly half of species are in decline, with farmland birds and seabirds the worst hit, conservation bodies say
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Wild bird populations in the UK have fallen to their lowest level since records began, figures show, with nearly half of species in decline.
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Figures produced by leading nature conservation bodies for the government show that average populations across 132 native breeding species fell by 19% between 1970 and 2025, with farmland birds and seabirds the worst hit in recent years.
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Prof Richard Gregory, the head of monitoring at the RSPB, called the overall findings “shocking and sobering”.
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Average populations of turtle doves have fallen by more than half in five years, showing no sign of the bird recovering from the brink of extinction.
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Tree sparrows, wood warblers and capercaillie were among the birds with the next biggest average annual decreases between 2019 and 2024.
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Swifts, whose arrival for many marks the beginning of summer, have declined by about 25% in five years, an average of nearly 6% a year across the UK.
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Bullfinches fell at a similar rate nationally, and by an average of 11% a year in England.
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Of the 132 native breeding species tracked, 45% have declined over the past five years, while just 27% have increased.
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In England, 55% of monitored species have declined.
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Seabirds are the worst hit group, down by more than a fifth over the past five years.
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Dr Ailidh Barnes, who helps build the index at the British Trust for Ornithology, said avian flu had “decimated” species such as Arctic skuas and terns.
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The disease spread quickly, she said, because seabirds nested shoulder to shoulder, and each year a different species appeared to suffer.
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“There’s a lag of data collection and then data analysis, and now we’re actually seeing that effect coming through,” she said.
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Farmland bird populations have decreased by 63% since 1970 and 12% since 2020.
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Defra attributes the long-term decline to changes in farming since the 1950s, including the loss of mixed farming (crops and livestock), increased pesticide and fertiliser use, and the removal of hedgerows.
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Despite the general decline, some populations are booming.
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Red kite populations have risen by 48% since 2019, and firecrests are up 300% over the same period.
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Gregory also highlighted the number of cranes “really coming back from extinction in the UK”, rising to 87 pairs nationally.
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Tern turnaround: colonies in England show signs of recovery after decline
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Birdsong data from Merlin ID app to help global biodiversity project
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Listen to Britain’s dawn chorus of 1976: the dramatic loss of birdsong in 50 years
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A little bird told her: scientist wins $100,000 prize for decoding birdsong