Our Concern
The Problem
Decline in numbers of many songbirds over last 25/30 years include:
| Lesser Redpoll | 90% |
| Tree Sparrow | over 80% |
| Skylark | 75% |
| Song Thrush | 53% |
| Bullfinch | over 50% |
Historically Speaking
Whether you live in a city, a leafy suburb, or out in the country, you will be aware that the dawn chorus is but a whisper of what it used to be as the songbird population has declined in almost all areas over the last twenty-five years or so.
What has happened?
The whole of the environment of Great Britain is effectively man-made. Like so many other people we feel we have a responsibility to ensure that the environment is managed for the benefit of as many organisms as possible. SongBird Survival was set up because a number of people identified a major flaw in the UK's management policy for songbirds.
In the 1950s and 1960s, when songbirds were still numerous, careful management of predators by farmers, gamekeepers, smallholders and estate managers produced a stable population of songbirds. When predators reached pest proportions they were culled but when numbers were low it was simply not worthwhile spending time and materials removing them from the environment. None of the predators were eliminated.
The intensification of agriculture, especially in arable areas, had three major consequences for wildlife:
- Loss of habitat - (feeding areas and nest sites)
- Widespread use of pesticides.
- Progressively less control of predators.
1. Loss of habitat included:
- Removal of hedgerows
- Major reduction of permanent pasture in arable areas
- Reclamation of &redundant& and marsh land
- Increases in the proportion of winter crops (sown in the autumn)
- Intensification of livestock production.
BUT in the last 10 years farmland habitat has improved. For example:
- New hedges, totalling 40,000km (24,800 miles) planted (Farmers spend £16m per annum maintaining them)
- Woodland cover now 100% greater than in 1920 (5% more than in 1990 since when farmers planted more than 87 million trees)
- Uptake of LEAF practices (Linking Environment And Farming)
- Arable land (minimum 10%) in set-a-side
- Organic conversion
- Countryside Stewardship and other schemes totalling over one million hectares (2.47 million acres) and increasing
- 13,000 hectares (32,000 acres) of cereal field margins in positive wildlife friendly management, ie they are richer in plant species than previously.
Yet populations of many songbirds continue to decline.
2. Widespread use of pesticides.
- The word 'pesticide' embraces a very wide range of chemical compounds for the control of an equally wide range of pests from fungi to weeds and as plant desiccants. They are used for efficient agricultural production and are now subject to extremely
strict regulations. - The use of DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) and similar compounds in the past led to accumulation in birds and most dramatically in raptors causing a substantial decrease in populations of some species. Consequently the offending compounds were withdrawn and legislation introduced giving protection to all raptors. Populations of sparrowhawks subsequently increased enormously and heavy penalties remain in force for anyone controlling them.
- The use of herbicides (weedkillers) while having no direct effect on birdlife, reduces the food supply for some species, either in the form of weed seeds or insects living on weeds. We accept that agriculture should have effective means of controlling weed populations in order to remain viable and produce wholesome food. We also believe that it is essential for part of the rural landscape to be used for the maintenance of biodiversity. See previous section (above) for initiatives already in place.
With the possible exception of slug pellets, there are no direct deleterious effects from the use of other agrochemicals on birdlife when they are used correctly.
3. Progressively less control of predators
That populations of many predators have increased in the last 20 years or so is not in dispute. The reasons for the increase are not always clear-cut. For instance, some are protected by legislation, others are not. While some, such as the sparrowhawk occur widely over the UK others are more localised. The sparrowhawk, magpie and fox have quickly become less wary of man and continue moving into the urban environment, badgers are expanding their range and beginning to colonise urban locations while mink remain in rural areas.
Similarly, the effects on populations of songbirds vary according to their preferred location, food and nesting sites.
Therefore details of individual predators are given below:-
Grey Squirrels | Domestic & feral cats | Magpies
Coming Soon:
Sparrowhawks, Foxes, Mink, Crows, Badgers
You will see how the cumulative effects of such marked increase in predation override those from improved habitat in the countryside and other potentially positive actions such as provision of food in winter (bird tables) and the current fashion for wildlife-friendly gardens.