10 species THAT NEED YOUR HELP

A wildlife-friendly garden will benefit all birds, but some need a helping hand more than others. Here are 10, some of them previously very familiar garden visitors, for which you can make a positive impact

1 SwiftThe decline in the UK’s Swift population in recent decades is probably down to two main factors. Firstly, a decline in the amount of insect prey (so-called ‘aerial plankton’) available to them, and secondly, the reduction in the amount of nest sites. The birds use cavities under the eaves of houses and other buildings, but replacement and repair of older structures mean these are in short supply.

You can put up Swift nest boxes, and also encourage the use of Swift bricks in new buildings – these have cavities in them that can be used for nesting. Otherwise, anything that encourages insects to your garden will help.

2 House Sparrow

Once ubiquitous in urban areas, this familiar species has suffered partly for the same reasons as Swifts – through loss of nest sites. But there are other reasons behind its decline, too, as they still do well at some urban and suburban sites. One factor may be a scarcity of natural seeds to feed on, while pollution may also have played a part.

You can buy sparrow ‘terraces’ – nest boxes which allow these sociable birds to nest communally. To provide food, a wild flower patch and some judicious rewilding – allowing a few weeds to grow – will create seed food. Some supplementary feeding will also help.

3 Tree Sparrow

This is a tricky one. In some parts of their range, in Asia, Tree Sparrows happily breed in the centre of huge cities. But in the UK they are rural birds. Agricultural changes are thought to be the main reason for the huge decline in their numbers here, although they’re also sometimes fickle about breeding sites, deserting apparently suitable areas for no obvious reason.

They will use nest boxes with holes – arrange a few fairly close together, as they’re sociable birds. They also readily use feeders, and have a particular liking for millet and sunflower seeds.

4 Starling

There’s only around a third as many Starlings breeding in the UK as in the mid-1970s – a decline in the number of ground invertebrates, which they feed on, is thought to be the main reason for their decline. But loss of nest sites has also played a part, with replacement and renovation of older buildings again eliminating the sort of cavities they sometimes use to nest in.

Starlings like hanging seed feeders with no outer cage and filled with a husk-free mix or sunflower hearts, as well as unprotected hanging fat balls or suet blocks.

5 Spotted Flycatcher

The clue to their decline is in the name. Although conditions on their wintering grounds and on migratory stop-off sites may have played a large role in their decline, lack of insect prey is also playing a part, and possibly the loss of natural nest sites, too. If conditions are right they will nest in suburban and rural gardens, especially larger ones with lots of mature growth, so loss of older houses and gardens may be affecting them badly.

Wildlife-friendly gardening that encourages larger insects will help them find enough food to breed, and they also appreciate at least some larger bushes and trees to provide hunting perches. They readily use open-fronted nest boxes, especially if positioned amid cover such as climbing plants.

6 Marsh Tit

The little Marsh Tit is primarily a woodland bird, only likely to appear in gardens close to mature woodland (and in England or Wales, it being absent from all but the extreme south-east of Scotland). It is a hole-nester and undergoing a steep decline, arguably owing to loss of habitat to feed and nest.

Two ways you can help Marsh Tits (if you live near a suitable wood), are to provide nest boxes with holes (not ‘open fronts’), and to supply seed feeders.

7 Greenfinch

Before the substantial decline in UK Chaffinch populations (see 9), Greenfinches underwent an even more catastrophic decline, of perhaps two-thirds, from the 1970s and more dramatically in the 1990s. The main cause was an outbreak of trichomonosis. Luckily, Greenfinches are beginning to bounce back.

To help sustain the recovery of Greenfinches, the most important thing we can do is make sure that our garden bird feeders are regularly cleaned and disinfected. Also, it is a good idea to regularly move feeders to different parts of the garden, to prevent birds coming into contact with discarded seed which may be infected.

8 House Martin

The House Martin is a species which is very closely associated with human buildings (the clue is in the name), building cup-shaped nests under eaves on houses. The nests are made of damp mud collected in the bills from the ground and pasted onto the wall by the martins.

In the absence of wet mud, House Martins cannot make their own nests, but the birds will come to artificial martin nest boxes attached under the eaves of a house. Multiple nest boxes can help build your own House Martin colony!

The Chaffinch was, until recently, one of the most common birds in the UK, rivalling only the Wren for top spot. However, from 2007-2018 the population crashed by nearly a third. It is not certain what is causing the massive decline in Chaffinch breeding populations, but trichomonosis infection is undoubtedly playing a part. Making sure that garden bird feeders are regularly cleaned and disinfected is a great start in helping prevent infections of diseases such as trichomonosis in finches. The BTO is seeking to carry out research to save the Chaffinch, and is currently looking for donations to help support this research (see www.bto.org for details).

10 Song Thrush

All thrushes eat a mix of vegetable matter (including fruit) and animal matter (largely invertebrates, such as worms). With Song Thrushes, a large part of their diet is from the latter category, specialising in snails, which they famously bash on stones to break the shells. General lack of molluscs in modern gardens may have contributed to recent declines in thrush populations.

Poisoning slugs and snails in your garden is effectively removing food from the beaks of Song Thrushes and their young. So, learn to tolerate the gastropods, and let the Hedgehogs, amphibians and Song Thrushes do the slug and snail removal for you.