As a scientist by training (lapsed, now, my scientist colleagues would say!), I find patterns fascinating. The latest regional breakdown of English results (from 2007) of the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey show a strong North-South divide in the population trends of a suite of farmland and woodland bird species http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/details.asp?id=tcm:9-217189. Woodland and farmland species are doing better in the North than the South. This must tell us something about the causes of these population declines.
For lowland farmland species we know a lot already. Thanks to the work of scientists from the RSPB, the BTO and other organisations, notably the Game Conservancy Trust (now the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust!), we really do understand the precipitous declines in species such as skylark and grey partridge http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/wildlife/kf/wdkf03.htm which occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. And for many species we know how to reverse these declines by appropriate tweaks to management. Notably, on the RSPB's own arable farm, Hope Farm, we have turned around the declines of farmland birds, increased their numbers dramatically - and all this while keeping the farm a modern, productive and efficient farming unit http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/farming/hopefarm/index.asp (and, by the way, without killing magpies, crows, foxes etc). I'm looking forward to meeting some of our members who have supported our work at Hope Farm this weekend.
For woodland birds we are still at the beginning of the journey to understand their declines. The very strong North-South divide might indicate that climate change is playing a part - it's quite likely really - but there are plenty of other explanations too. What we hope we will discover, as we did with the skylark and other farmland birds, is that altering management just a little will allow bird numbers to recover.
Or maybe it's just because the stereotypes are true - Northerners are friendlier than those of us living in the South!