76% reduction in the UK breeding range of the hawfinch since late 1980s

Hawfinches (Coccothraustes coccothraustes) used to be regularly seen each winter in places with plenty of mature trees such as Studley Royal, Fountains Abbey, Woolley Woods, Bretton Country Park or Roche Abbey. A particularly good place was Duncombe Park, Helmsley where hawfinches used to be seen feeding on berries on the Yew Walk near the house. But hawfinches seem to have all but disappeared from these places with the trees around the chapel at Clumber Park, north Nottinghamshire and the nearby Rufford Country Park the nearest (fairly) reliable places to see them. There has been a national reduction in their breeding range of more than 76 per cent since the late 1980s with only between 500 and 1,000 breeding pairs left plus autumn arrivals from Europe.

Source: Yorkshire Post, 29 October, 2016
Read more at: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/environment/birdwatch-hawfinch-gett…