Small garden birds thriving, says study

FAVOURABLE WEATHER conditions helped boost numbers of goldfinches and other small garden birds spotted in an annual survey, the RSPB said.

More than 420,000 people across the country, including more than 31,900 in Yorkshire, took part in the conservation charity’s Big Garden Birdwatch in the last weekend of January, recording 6.7 million birds visiting their gardens or local park.

There was a surge in sightings of species such as goldfinches and coal tits, with good weather last summer helping deliver a successful breeding season for the birds to swell their numbers.

Sightings of goldfinches were up seven per cent in Yorkshire on the previous year, according to the survey, while coal tits were up nine per cent and chaffinches up three per cent across the region.

There was also a two per cent rise in sightings of greenfinches, which was welcomed by conservationists as the birds have suffered a 60 per cent decline since the survey began in 1979.

However, there was a fall in records of blackbirds in the county, with sightings down 16 per cent, and robins, which were down 13 per cent compared to last year.

RSPB conservation scientist Daniel Hayhow said: “Last summer was a really good year for many breeding birds with warm weather creating great conditions for many smaller birds to raise their young to adulthood.”