Northern Ireland birds are going for gold

THE RSPB’s Big Garden Bird Watch results are in and tell a story of the continuing recovery for small birds after the two tough winters of 2012 and 2011.

Findings from the world’s biggest garden bird survey also highlight how different Northern Ireland’s garden bird population is from the UK as a whole.

Over the last weekend in January every year, the wildlife charity asks people across the country to spend an hour counting the different birds seen in their gardens, park, patio or schoolyard and submit their results.

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Goldfinches, now ranked 4th most sighted species in Northern Ireland (3rd in Co Down), have been moving steadily up the charts in recent years. A decade ago, these colourful little visitors came 10th. Last year they were 5th; could they take bronze next January?

Tiny blue tits, one of the species hardest hit by the Arctic conditions a couple of years ago, are making a welcome resurgence and are now the 5th most recorded garden bird here up from 6th in 2011.

Compared to overall UK numbers, Northern Ireland has more birds per garden; this is true for almost every species in the top ten. The survey, which provides a leaderboard of the most-sighted birds, also shows that many small members of the finch and tit families, are more likely to be visitors to our gardens. This includes the exotic looking goldfinch (ranked 8th nationally), diminutive coal tit, moving up one place to 8th here versus a fall from 15th to 16th nationally, and chaffinch, 3rd here but 6th UK-wide.

There can be significant differences within Northern Ireland from region to region. The pattern where more chaffinches and greenfinches are seen the further west one travels persists. Fermanagh remains the best place to see greenfinches (9th in the county table against an NI average of 12 and a UK average of 15), while chaffinches are top of the tree in Tyrone.

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Conversely, some larger species such as the song thrush, robin and blackbird have not been seen as often and in smaller numbers. This fall in the rankings is due in part to the fact that these larger birds are territorial. Even so, the drop in the blackbird’s position; 4 to 6 in Northern Ireland and from 3 to 4 nationally, does raise questions. Robins are down here from 8th to 10th and song thrushes from 19th to 22nd nationally (42% drop). However, wood pigeons are climbing steadily, and the collared dove – not native to the UK until the 60s – is proving to be one of the success stories of the decade.

UK-wide there has been great concern about starling numbers and the overall survey results reflect this. As recently as 2011, the most commonly seen bird in Northern Ireland, starlings now take second place to house sparrows. This mirrors the national picture. Even though starlings still regularly frequent our gardens, the numbers spotted per garden are well down (by almost 10 per cent), which may indicate a decline.

Stephanie Sim, RSPB, warns: “This year’s results do not mean we can be complacent here in Northern Ireland. Many favourite garden birds are threatened by loss of habitat, climate change and other factors and we need to adopt best practice wherever we can.”

For the first time, the Big Garden Bird Watch survey results produced a table showing the change in UK bird sightings since 1979. It makes for shocking reading: starling sightings down 79.3%, song thrush down 68.7%, house sparrows down 55.3% and blackbirds 36%.

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Interestingly too, however, nearly all the figures indicated either huge gains or huge losses in sightings. Wood pigeon sightings soared by 840%, collared doves 369.5%, coal tits by 263% and wrens and magpie sightings were well up too. Does this mean that some species have been able to take advantage in massive changes in urbanization, climate and habitat over the past 33 years?

“Because Northern Ireland presents a different picture to the rest of the UK, it is very important that as many people participate in this and other RSPB garden bird surveys,” Stephanie said.

She added: “The fascinating differences between counties provides all the more reason for people from across Northern Ireland to take part. Our next survey, Make Your Nature Count in June is the perfect opportunity!”

For advice on attracting more birds to your place, and tips on creating a wildlife friendly garden, especially now, at the start of nesting and breeding season, visit www.rspb.org.uk/hfw

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