House sparrows remain top of the flock in Northern Ireland but the household favourite has suffered ‘startling’ declines says RSPB.
Over 11,000 NI people took part in the wildlife charity’s Big Garden Birdwatch this year, counting a total of 14,000 birds.
It’s the sixth year running that house sparrows have held the top spot, but its numbers have plummeted by around 22 million across the UK since the annual survey began.
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Other birds featured in the top 20 in NI gardens included the starling, blue tit, blackbird and chaffinch.
RSPB Area Manager, Claire Barnett, said: “With so many people sending in their sightings over the weekend from across Northern Ireland, the Big Garden Birdwatch really helps paint a picture of how our garden birds are faring.
“While we celebrate the 20 year stint of the House Sparrow at number one in the UK, the numbers speak for themselves when it comes to the startling declines of some of our once common birds.
“They no longer have the abundance across the UK that they used to have.
“We are in a nature and climate emergency and we’ve lost 38 million birds from our skies in the last 50 years.”
The world’s biggest garden survey also found the number of Long-tailed Tits, Greenfinches and Chaffinches in our gardens have dropped, highlighting the fragility of our natural world.
Findings of the RSPB’s 44th Big Garden Birdwatch come just as Sir David Attenborough says “we must act now” to Save Our Wild Isles; joining forces with the National Trust, WWF and RSPB to sound an urgent SOS for nature.
This year more than half a million people across the UK took part, counting more than 9 million birds.
House Sparrows have dropped by nearly 60% since the survey first began, and nearly 22 million House Sparrows have been lost from the UK since 1966.
Meanwhile, Greenfinches and Chaffinches have been badly affected by the disease Trichomonosis, causing respective declines in their populations of 34% and 65% in the last decade.
Trichomonosis can be spread by contaminated food and drinking water and garden owners can help by ensuring that feeders, bird tables and bird baths are moved around to stop food waste building up, regularly cleaning with a mild disinfectant and only filling up feeders with enough food to last up to two days.
If you see sick birds where you are feeding, temporarily stop feeding for at least two weeks and leave bird baths dry.
The RSPB’s Chief Executive, Beccy Speight added: “With such a rallying call from Sir David Attenborough, and with spring seeing the nature on our doorsteps burst info life, we’re hopeful that more and more people will feel empowered to help save our wild isles. “Connecting with nature doesn’t have to stop with the Big Garden Birdwatch; everyone can experience the joy of giving nature a helping hand by going wild once a week.”
The top 20 birds in 2023 RSPB Northern Ireland's Big Garden Birdwatch:
Rank 2023 |
Species |
Average count per garden |
% of gardens species recorded in 2023 |
% change in average count since 2022 |
Rank Change since 2022 |
|
1 |
House Sparrow |
5.76 |
72.4 |
7.0 |
0 |
|
2 |
Starling |
4.55 |
58.2 |
10.4 |
0 |
|
3 |
Blue Tit |
2.45 |
74.7 |
-6.8 |
0 |
|
4 |
Blackbird |
2.43 |
87.6 |
4.9 |
1 |
|
5 |
Goldfinch |
2.42 |
37.3 |
8.5 |
1 |
|
6 |
Chaffinch |
2.28 |
55.6 |
-5.8 |
-2 |
|
7 |
Robin |
1.89 |
90.0 |
7.7 |
1 |
|
8 |
Great Tit |
1.73 |
59.1 |
-10.4 |
-1 |
|
9 |
Magpie |
1.53 |
65.6 |
-1.2 |
0 |
|
10 |
Collared Dove |
1.24 |
47.8 |
-0.1 |
1 |
|
11 |
Jackdaw |
1.18 |
31.2 |
19.5 |
2 |
|
12 |
Coal Tit |
1.14 |
48.5 |
-10.1 |
-2 |
|
13 |
Woodpigeon |
1.10 |
49.2 |
-4.2 |
-1 |
|
14 |
Feral Pigeon |
0.99 |
20.2 |
21.2 |
1 |
|
15 |
Hooded Crow |
0.92 |
23.4 |
-3.0 |
-1 |
|
16 |
Dunnock |
0.73 |
37.4 |
2.2 |
0 |
|
17 |
Long Tailed Tit |
0.66 |
17.6 |
14.0 |
0 |
|
18 |
Wren |
0.39 |
27.8 |
2.7 |
0 |
|
19 |
Song Thrush |
0.31 |
22.3 |
6.3 |
1 |
|
20 |
Rook |
0.30 |
7.2 |
43.1 |
1 |
The charity is urging everyone to plant wildflowers in a window box, get involved in local nature projects and to join them for the Wild Weekender where they can learn how to take action for nature on their YouTube page from 28 April to 1 May, See this website for details.
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