Scotland’s terrestrial birds decline in number

    Goldfinch. ©Lorne Gill

    The latest figures released show a decline in the numbers of Scotland’s terrestrial breeding birds found in recent years.

    Goldfinch feeding on a frozen teasel. ©Lorne Gill
    Goldfinch feeding on a frozen teasel. ©Lorne Gill

    Scottish Natural Heritage has released figures tracking the abundance of Scotland’s terrestrial breeding birds found in woodland, farmland and upland habitats from 1994 to 2013. Although the report shows that the combined abundance of the 66 species included in the report showed a steady increase up to the mid-2000s, these numbers have since been in decline. These findings have shown that there is currently no significant change to bird populations when compared to the findings from 1994.

    Species shown to be in decline include lapwing, greenfinch, linnet, skylark and kestrel. There are several factors that may have contributed to the decline in terrestrial bird numbers, including outbreaks of disease among some species and adverse weather conditions resulting in poor breeding seasons.

    www.snh.gov.uk

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