Today sees the publication of three lists of UK birds - red, amber and green. The red species are not redshanks, red-breasted mergansers and robin redbreasts but are those species which are most threatened in the UK.
The big news is that the cuckoo is red-listed for the first time because it has declined in numbers so rapidly – by 61% in the last 25 years.
And people do notice - last weekend, at a family party, an elderly countryman told me that he hadn't heard a cuckoo yet this year and how sad a thing that was. The loss of the cuckoo is a loss of part of our cultural heritage - like losing literature or music or paintings. For generations, Europeans have waited for the cuckoo as a sign of spring and greeted its return with pleasure. Michael McCarthy, the Environment Editor of The Independent newspaper has written a book on this theme - 'Say goodbye to the cuckoo'.
The cuckoo is one of a number of summer visitors to the UK which are declining in numbers (others include yellow wagtail, wood warbler, turtle dove and spotted flycatcher) and we think their populations are declining across much of Europe. Maybe their wintering grounds on the far side of the Sahara are less suitable now or maybe Europe’s farmland is less insect-rich than it was. RSPB scientists are trying to figure out the reasons.
But let's celebrate a success. As the cuckoo gets on to the red list the stone curlew is down-listed from red to amber thanks to the efforts of numerous farmers who have made space for stone curlews on their land. This really is a success story - a species whose population was in rapid and long term decline is now doing well, although it is still a rare bird, because clever research led to effective action by hundreds of individuals. It shows what can be done when conservationists and farmers work together - as we have for many years! I expect the media coverage will stress the cuckoo much more than the stone curlew so let's just celebrate the fact that through working together a lot can be achieved.
But, there's no getting away from it, overall, the red list is growing, the amber list is growing and so the number of UK bird species about which we have no worries at all is shrinking. It's a tough world out there for nature and that's why nature needs a voice and the RSPB strives to get nature a better deal through buying and managing land, working with sympathetic landowners, lobbying governments and generally being on Nature's side.
And when you go out into the countryside – look out for those red cuckoos.