Bird Trends in the Heart of England, 1977-2016 Bird Trends in the Heart of England 1977-2016 A review of the population trends of Farmland and Woodland species in south central England compared to the whole of England Mike Curnow Bird Recorder Banbury Ornithological Society www.banburyos.org December 2018 1 Bird Trends in the Heart of England, 1977-2016 Contents 1. Summary ................................................................................................................................................................... 5 2. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 6 3. Overview of the Information Sources ....................................................................................................................... 6 4. Bird Indices ................................................................................................................................................................ 7 5. Farmland Bird Trends ................................................................................................................................................ 8 5.1 Farmland Bird Index .......................................................................................................................................... 8 5.2 Farmland Species Comparison ........................................................................................................................ 12 5.3 Farmland Trends Summary ............................................................................................................................. 13 5.4 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................................... 13 6. Woodland Bird Trends ............................................................................................................................................ 14 6.1 Woodland Bird Index ...................................................................................................................................... 14 6.2 Woodland Species Comparison ...................................................................................................................... 18 6.3 Woodland Trends Summary ........................................................................................................................... 19 6.4 Woodland Trends Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 19 7. Species Status.......................................................................................................................................................... 20 7.1 Format of Each Species Report ....................................................................................................................... 20 7.2 GREY PARTRIDGE Perdix perdix ....................................................................................................................... 21 7.3 SPARROWHAWK Accipiter nisus ..................................................................................................................... 22 7.4 KESTREL Falco tinnunculus .............................................................................................................................. 24 7.5 LAPWING Vanellus vanellus ............................................................................................................................ 25 7.6 STOCK DOVE Columba oenas .......................................................................................................................... 27 7.7 WOODPIGEON Columba palumbus ................................................................................................................ 28 7.8 GREEN WOODPECKER Picus viridis ................................................................................................................. 29 7.9 GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER Dendrocopos major ..................................................................................... 30 7.10 JAY Garrulus glandarius .................................................................................................................................. 32 7.11 JACKDAW Corvus monedula ............................................................................................................................ 33 7.12 ROOK Corvus frugilegus .................................................................................................................................. 34 7.13 GOLDCREST Regulus regulus ........................................................................................................................... 35 7.14 BLUE TIT Cyanistes caeruleus .......................................................................................................................... 36 7.15 GREAT TIT Parus major ................................................................................................................................... 37 7.16 COAL TIT Periparus ater .................................................................................................................................. 37 7.17 WILLOW TIT Poecile montana ......................................................................................................................... 39 7.18 MARSH TIT Poecile palustris............................................................................................................................ 40 7.19 SKYLARK Alauda arvensis ................................................................................................................................ 41 7.20 LONG-TAILED TIT Aegithalos caudatus ........................................................................................................... 42 7.21 CHIFFCHAFF Phylloscopus collybita................................................................................................................. 44 7.22 WILLOW WARBLER Phylloscopus trochilus ..................................................................................................... 45 2 Bird Trends in the Heart of England, 1977-2016 7.23 BLACKCAP Sylvia atricapilla ............................................................................................................................ 46 7.24 GARDEN WARBLER Sylvia borin ...................................................................................................................... 47 7.25 LESSER WHITETHROAT Sylvia curruca ............................................................................................................. 48 7.26 WHITETHROAT Sylvia communis .................................................................................................................... 49 7.27 NUTHATCH Sitta europaea ............................................................................................................................. 50 7.28 TREECREEPER Certhia familiaris ...................................................................................................................... 51 7.29 WREN Troglodytes troglodytes ....................................................................................................................... 52 7.30 STARLING Sturnus vulgaris .............................................................................................................................. 52 7.31 BLACKBIRD Turdus merula .............................................................................................................................. 53 7.32 SONG THRUSH Turdus philomelos .................................................................................................................. 54 7.33 SPOTTED FLYCATCHER Muscicapa striata ...................................................................................................... 55 7.34 ROBIN Erithacus rubecula ............................................................................................................................... 57 7.35 DUNNOCK Prunella modularis ........................................................................................................................ 57 7.36 TREE SPARROW Passer montanus .................................................................................................................. 58 7.37 CHAFFINCH Fringilla coelebs ........................................................................................................................... 61 7.38 GREENFINCH Chloris chloris ............................................................................................................................ 61 7.39 GOLDFINCH Carduelis carduelis ...................................................................................................................... 63 7.40 LINNET Linaria cannabina ............................................................................................................................... 64 7.41 BULLFINCH Pyrrhula pyrrhula ......................................................................................................................... 65 7.42 YELLOWHAMMER Emberiza Citronella ........................................................................................................... 66 7.43 REED BUNTING Emberiza schoeniclus ............................................................................................................