Birdwatch results reveal golden year for goldfinch

THE latest results from the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch have revealed a golden year for the goldfinch along with a number of other small birds after a surge in sightings in gardens across the country.

Now in its 39th year, the Birdwatch is a chance for people of all ages to count the number of bird visiting their garden helping RSPB Scotland build up a picture of how they are doing. This year, more than 29,000 people in Scotland took part counting 521,428 birds.

The event held over the last weekend and Monday of January revealed an increase in sightings of some smaller birds – goldfinch, long-tailed tit and siskin – that can usually be seen visiting gardens and outside spaces in mixed flocks. Recorded sightings of the brightly coloured, sociable finch rose by 14 per cent on 2017 figures and its bright red face was seen in more than a third of gardens. Other small birds that also recorded an increase in sightings include long-tailed tit (+16 per cent), and siskin which saw an increase of 93 per cent and flew up six places into the top 20 to number 19.

However, other small birds saw their numbers take a tumble with sightings down of chaffinch (-5 per cent), blue tit (-6 per cent), great tit (-7 per cent) and coal tit (-11 per cent).

While many birds will have benefited from good conditions for their breeding season in 2017 the colder weather in the run up to Birdwatch may have played a part in what birds were seen most.