The State of Birds in Wales 2010 report, published on 11 April 2011, shows that several bird species in Wales are declining at an alarming rate. The study is joint publication by RSPB Cymru, the Welsh Ornithological Society, Countryside Council for Wales, the British Trust for Ornithology and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. The report shows that numbers of some farmland and woodland birds have crashed by up to half since 1994. For example, Starlings Sturnus vulgaris have decreased by 58 per cent, Curlew Numenius arquata by 46 per cent and Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella by 40 per cent. Many of Wales’s breeding birds are falling. European Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria numbered several hundred breeding pairs in the 1970s; this had decreased to just 36 by 2007. If this decline has continued, the species is officially a rare breeding bird (less than 30 breeding pairs). Both Corn Bunting Miliaria calandra and Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur are declining, with neither species recorded breeding every year. Regular breeding species suffering significant falls in numbers include: Cuckoo Cuculus canorus (37 per cent), Common Swift Apus apus (52 per cent), Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis (29 per cent), Goldcrest Regulus regulus (41 per cent) and Linnet Carduelis cannabina (32 per cent).
Source: Birdwatch, 14 April 2011
http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/channel/newsitem.asp?c=11&cate=__10613
State of birds in the UK in 2010, see attached report
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