Birds of the wider countryside and at sea

Source: British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)

Notes about Figure 1

• The indicators are based on the aggregated population trends for each habitat.
• Data for wintering waterbirds are collected over the winter which spans two years e.g. 1975/1976. These data are plotted here as a single year, taking the later part of the winter period e.g. 1975/1976 data is plotted at 1976 on the x axis.
• The wintering waterbirds index focuses on bird species that over-winter in the UK, some of which may also breed here. All other habitat breakdowns focus on breeding birds.

Individual species trends for different habitats in the UK

As discussed above, each habitat index is comprised of a different aggregation of species. The trends of each individual species within these habitats indices varies from some species being in strong decline to others showing little change, and others showing a strong increase over time. A summary of the variation in individual species trends observed within habitats is presented in Figure 2. A summary of the key results are given below:

• Widespread species show declines across habitats: across all habitats, a significant percentage of species are in decline over the long term, except for breeding and wintering birds of UK wetlands, with farmland habitats showing the highest proportions of declining species. In contrast, the short-term declining trends are most prevalent in wetland and wintering waterbird species. Across most of the habitats, fewer species are increasing than declining.

• Woodland species beginning to stabilise: woodland species were reported to have the highest number of species declining in the short term under our previous publication. This year, we see fewer species declining and more species increasing, although overall there are still more declining than increasing species.

• Farmland species are still under pressure: farmland species are particularly at risk, with the highest percentage of species in decline across both time periods and relatively few species are increasing.

• Stability in certain habitats: across several habitats, a notable proportion of species show little change over the long term, including wetland, woodland and upland, which includes nearly half of the species. In the short term woodland and farmland habitats show a substantial proportion of species with little change.

• A reversal in trend for wintering waterbirds: over the long term, almost half of all wintering waterbird populations have increased, whereas the opposite trend is seen over the short term, with a similar proportion now in decline. This gradual downward trajectory started in the early 2000s.

Source: British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)

Notes about Figure 2

• Each bar represents 100% of the species within a habitat.
• Each bar within a row shows the percentage of species within the indicator that are categorised as showing an increase (strong or weak increase), a decrease (strong or weak decline) or little or no overall change.
• Habitats are ranked by highest percentage of species in decline.
• WWB: Wintering waterbirds.

Source: British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)

Notes about Figure 3

• The indicators are based on the aggregated population trends of 19 species of farmland birds.
• The smoothed index is presented together with the 95% confidence interval (a measure of uncertainty) represented by the shaded area around the trend line.
• The unsmoothed index is presented as a dashed line.

The farmland bird index for the UK includes individual measures for 19 species of farmland birds, of which 12 species are farmland specialists (species that are restricted to, or highly dependent on, farmland habitats) and 7 species are farmland generalists.

Farmland bird populations have declined by 62% since 1970, with declines being stronger for farmland specialist birds than generalists. The most severe population declines occurred between the mid 1970s and the early 1990s, largely due to the negative impact of rapid changes in farmland management during this period. Although the rate of decline has slowed since this period, the populations have continued to decline at a fast rate, declining by 11% in the 5 years since 2019. The long-term decline of the farmland bird indicator in the UK has been driven mainly by the decline of farmland specialists. However, generalist species have also seen severe population declines since the mid 2000s.

Individual species trends vary, with some species populations in strong decline, some species more than doubling and other species changing very little since 1970. 63% of species have declined since 1970 and in the most recent 5 year period 42% of species have declined (see Figure 2). Examples of farmland birds in strong long-term decline include turtle dove, grey partridge, tree sparrow, corn bunting and starling.

For detailed information, including a breakdown of specialist and generalist farmland specific indices and individual species trends, see the farmland bird section in the Wild bird populations in the UK and England publication.

Source: British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)

Notes about Figure 4

• The indicators are based on the aggregated population trends of 37 species of woodland birds.
• The smoothed index is presented together with the 95% confidence interval (a measure of uncertainty) represented by the shaded area around the trend line.
• The unsmoothed index is presented as a dashed line.

The woodland bird index for the UK includes individual measures for 37 species of woodland birds, of which 25 species are woodland specialists (species that are restricted to, or highly dependent on, woodland habitats) and 12 are generalists.

Woodland bird populations have declined by 32% in the UK since 1970. The rate of decline has been relatively continuous over most of this period, but there appears to be a very recent upturn in recent years, particularly in the 2023 and 2024 breeding seasons (2024 only for the generalists), after a decade of overall decline, with the indicator showing little or no overall change in the five years since 2019. Woodland bird breeding numbers respond rapidly to good climatic conditions however, so the future trajectory is still uncertain. The long-term decline of the woodland bird indicator in the UK has been driven mainly by the decline of those species that are restricted to, or highly dependent on, woodland habitats (the ‘specialists’). The recent years of high abundance are reflected in an apparent stabilisation of the specialist indicators for the UK and England, and also for generalists in the UK.

Individual species trends vary, with some species populations in strong decline, some species more than doubling and other species changing very little since 1970. 35% of woodland species have declined since 1970 and in the most recent 5 year period 41% of woodland species have declined (see Figure 2). Examples of woodland birds in strong decline include willow tit, capercaillie, lesser spotted woodpecker and spotted flycatcher.

For detailed information, including a breakdown of specialist and generalist woodland specific indices and individual species trends, see the woodland bird section in the Wild bird populations in the UK and England publication.

Source: British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)

Notes about Figure 5

• The indicators are based on the aggregated population trends of 26 species of breeding water and wetland birds.
• The smoothed index is presented together with the 95% confidence interval (a measure of uncertainty) represented by the shaded area around the trend line.
• The unsmoothed index is presented as a dashed line.

The UK breeding water and wetland bird index includes individual measures for 26 species. The index can be disaggregated into four sub-habitat indicators: birds of fast flowing water (4 species); birds of slow and standing water (6 species); birds of reedbeds (4 species) and birds of wet grasslands (8 species).

The breeding water and wetland bird populations have declined by 10% since 1975. However, uncertainty around this index means we cannot classify this as a meaningful change. More recently, since 2019, water and wetland bird populations have experienced declines of 4%.

Individual species trends vary, with some species populations in strong decline, some species more than doubling and other species changing very little since 1975. 27% of wetland species have declined since 1975 and in the most recent 5 year period 50% of wetland species have declined (see Figure 2). Examples of breeding water and wetland birds in strong decline include yellow wagtail in the long-term and lapwing, coot and great crested grebe in the short term.

For detailed information, including a breakdown of sub habitat specific indices and individual species trends, see the Water and wetland bird section in the Wild bird populations in the UK and England publication.

Source: British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)

Notes about Figure 6

• The indicators are based on the aggregated population trends of 13 species of seabirds.
• The smoothed index is presented together with the 95% confidence interval (a measure of uncertainty) represented by the shaded area around the trend line.
• The unsmoothed index is presented as a dashed line.

The UK breeding seabird index includes individual measures for 13 species, of which 5 species are surface feeders and 3 are subsurface feeders. Trends for the seabird indicators should be interpreted with care due to the relatively small number of species included in some indices and the scarcity of data for some constituent species.

Seabird populations have declined by 37% since 1986 and experienced little to no change in the 5 years since 2019.

Individual species trends vary, with some species populations in strong decline, some species more than doubling and other species changing very little since 1986. 38% of seabird species have declined since 1986 and in the most recent 5 year period 38% of seabird species have declined (see Figure 2). Examples of seabirds in strong decline include Arctic skua (all UK birds are in Scotland).

Data collection for seabirds was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic but differences in annual coverage should be accounted for in the analyses. Trends in some seabird species have been negatively impacted by the onset of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) since 2020, and large annual differences in the numbers of affected birds at different colonies has added to the instability in some trends.

For detailed information, including a breakdown of sub-habitat specific indices and individual species trends, see the seabirds section in the Wild bird populations in the UK and England publication.

Source: British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)

Notes about Figure 7

• The indicators are based on the aggregated population trends of 32 species of upland birds.
• The smoothed index is presented together with the 95% confidence interval (a measure of uncertainty) represented by the shaded area around the trend line.
• The unsmoothed index is presented as a dashed line.

The upland bird index for the UK includes individual measures for 32 species of upland birds, of which 13 species are upland generalists, 15 species are upland specialists (species that are restricted to, or highly dependent on, upland habitats) and 4 species are upland riparian.

Upland bird populations have declined by 11% in the UK since 1994 and have experienced little or no overall change in the 5 years since 2019, although there is some variability amongst individual groups of species.

Individual species trends vary, with some species populations in strong decline, some species more than doubling and other species changing very little since 1994. Overall, 34% of upland species have declined since 1994 and in the most recent 5 year period 42% of upland species have declined (see Figure 2). Examples of upland birds in strong decline include peregrine falcon and whinchat.

For detailed information, including a breakdown of generalist, specialist and riparian upland specific indices and individual species trends, see the upland bird section in the Wild bird populations in the UK and England publication.

Source: British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)

Notes about Figure 8

• The indicators are based on the aggregated population trends of 46 species of wintering waterbirds.
• Data for wintering waterbirds are collected over the winter which spans two years e.g. 1975/1976.
• The smoothed index is presented as a solid line and the unsmoothed index is presented as a dashed line. No confidence intervals are available.

The wintering waterbird index for the UK includes individual measures for 46 species of wintering waterbirds, of which 15 species are waders and 31 species are wildfowl.

Wintering waterbird populations have increased by 92% in the UK since the winter of 1975/1976. However, since the early 2000s the index has been in decline, although this has stabilised to little or no overall change over the most recent five year period.

Individual species trends vary, with some species populations in strong decline, some species increasing tenfold and other species changing very little since 1975/1976. Overall, 50% of species have increased and 9% of species have declined since 1975/1976. However, in the most recent 5 year period 46% of species have declined (see Figure 2). No wintering water birds are in strong decline long term, but over the short term examples include Bewick’s swan, scaup and Icelandic greylag goose.

Like seabirds, wintering waterbirds have been impacted by the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak. It remains to be seen whether HPAI has longer term impacts on wintering populations of ducks, swans or geese.

For detailed information, including a breakdown of waders and wildfowl indices and individual species trends, see the wintering waterbird section in the Wild bird populations in the UK and England publication.