Science

2003

The state of the UK's birds 2003

The state of the UK's birds 2003 report cover

The state of the UK's birds 2003' is the fifth and latest in a series of annual summaries and gives an overview of the fortunes of wild birds in the UK. It draws together the most recent data from a range of reliable sources up to 2003, and presents trends for some species since 1970.

The UK has one of the best programmes of bird monitoring in the world, from familiar and common species to rare and local breeders and winter visitors. This report summarises the most important results from annual, periodically repeated and one-off surveys. In many cases, due to the inevitable time lag in the collation and reporting of survey results, the most recently available data are from 2002 or even 2001. 

Importantly, this report contains the first update of trends since 2001 for many common breeding species, after the interruption to monitoring caused by the foot and mouth disease outbreak.

This report starts with updated trends in the breeding bird species covered by UK Biodiversity Action Plans (BAPs). As these include some of the highest priorities of the Government and non-governmental organisations, this is a vital check on whether the conservation targets set by UK BAPs are likely to be met. 

Trends for common and widespread species monitored by the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), and its predecessor, the Common Birds Census (CBC), are similarly updated. The UK wild bird indicator, a barometer of the fortunes of breeding birds in the UK, is also updated, allowing us to check on progress since 2000, in particular for farmland and woodland birds that are the focus of current conservation attention.

We then report on the recent performances of our birds of prey, the subjects of much monitoring effort throughout the UK. Other recent surveys, such as of breeding waders in wet grassland,
are also summarised. 

This year sees the publication of the results of Seabird 2000, a major project to conduct complete censuses of breeding seabird populations in the UK, many of which are of international importance. We include the new population estimates from this project, the first for 15 years and, for some species, the first accurate estimates ever, and discuss what these tell us about the UK’s seabirds.

As well as trends in breeding birds, we report on the fortunes of the water birds that spend the winter in the UK, many of which migrate here from breeding grounds overseas. Our wetlands and coastlines hold massive numbers of wintering swans, geese, ducks and wading birds of many species, some of which are present in internationally important numbers, such as the goose populations we highlight in this report.

Recent research has focused on the large numbers of birds found wintering offshore around the UK, particularly with regards to potential wind farm developments in these areas.

We show some results from this work, which has revealed previously unknown concentrations of sea ducks in our near shore waters.

Finally, for the second year running, we report on the status of the important populations of birds that are found in the UK’s Overseas Territories. The release of an updated IUCN red list of globally threatened bird species allows us to highlight the vulnerability of some of the bird populations for which the UK has special responsibility.

This report is a collaboration between three NGOs – the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT). Bird monitoring in the UK is undertaken by NGOs such as these three, in collaboration with the Government, notably the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and the four national conservation agencies: English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Countryside Council for Wales and the Environment Heritage Service (Northern Ireland).

Special thanks to volunteer observers

Our detailed knowledge of the state of UK bird populations results from the tremendous efforts of volunteers, working in collaboration through the BTO, WWT, the RSPB, bird clubs, raptor study groups and other bird-related networks. If you are one of these volunteers, we offer a big thank you for all your hard work and dedication, without which this report, and many others, would not be possible. 

If you are thinking of ways to help bird conservation, more volunteers are always needed. Please contact the appropriate organisation, click the ‘Current and planned surveys’ link if you would like to participate in any surveys.

Last modified: 29 July 2004

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The state of the UK's birds 2003 (554Kb)
A round up of how the UK's birds are faring.