Big Garden Birdwatch 2022: The results

House sparrows are top of the flocks for the 19th year running. But it’s vital we continue to look out for sparrows as there are far fewer around now. The population has declined so much that they are on the UK Red List for birds – any further declines would be devastating.

The first Birdwatch took place in 1979 and so we now have over 40 years of data to help us understand how garden birds are faring in the UK. The table below shows the long-term trends for some of our most familiar birds.

Want to know more about how bird populations are changing in the UK? The State of Nature report is a healthcheck on how the UK’s wildlife is faring. It is put together using wildlife data from a group of 50 conservation organisations. The latest report was published in 2019 and found that of the 8,431 species assessed, 15% are now at risk of extinction. You can see how birds and other animals are doing across the UK, as well as look at the pressures facing wildlife and the efforts being made to save nature.

The UK has lost over 38 million birds in the last 50 years and thanks to climate change, we know that things are going to get worse. That’s why we’ve launched an urgent appeal to help buy an additional 75,000 hectares of land for nature in the next 10 years. Land like peat bogs, which are home to threatened curlews and golden plovers, and saltmarshes, which benefit wonderful wading birds like avocets. You can help by making a donation today.