Scottish birds facing extinction

Published on Wednesday 27 May 2009 21:59

SOME of Scotland's rarest birds have suffered an "alarming" decline in numbers and could face extinction without drastic action, according to a report published today.

The Birds of Conservation Concern (Bocc) study has found that populations of certain species found nowhere else in the UK have fallen by nearly a half in just four years.

The body, a partnership of key organisations, including RSPB Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage, has warned that, unless "concerted management" is introduced, several species that have only a "toehold" in Scotland may become extinct here.

New species on the Bocc "red list" – the most at-risk conservation status – include the Arctic skua, which migrates to Shetland and Orkney to breed each year. In what it describes as an "alarming trend", the Bocc estimates only about 1,000 pairs remain, with the population plummeting by 46 per cent between 2000 and 2004, according to Scottish Government biodiversity indicators.

Such has been the speed of decline, the Arctic skua is the only bird to have gone straight from the Bocc green list of 2002 to its 2009 red list. Numbers of the whimbrel, which also migrates north, have fallen by more than half in two decades.

The yellow wagtail has moved from the amber to the red list, with only about ten pairs remaining in the Borders, while the fieldfare and redwing – which have a small breeding population restricted to Scotland – have also been added to the red list as a result of falls in their breeding numbers.

The nationwide picture reveals shrinking populations to be endemic. There are 52 species on the red list, up from 40 seven years ago, meaning more than one in five of the UK's entire bird species are now deemed seriously at risk, including supposedly common species such as the cuckoo and lapwing.

Stuart Housden, the director of RSPB Scotland, said: "An increasing number of familiar birds are joining the list of species most in need of help.

"As recently as 20 years ago, people would have dismissed the idea of a population threat to widespread and popular birds, such as starlings, house sparrows and lapwings. Now these have become some of our most pressing conservation priorities.

"More worrying is the fact that this list is growing at an alarming rate, and we face the possibility of local extinctions for some species unless concerted management is undertaken."

While the report does not demonstrate a direct link to climate change, the Bocc believes the increasing numbers of species moving on to its red list offers potential evidence of the continuing deterioration of local conditions for such birds.

Dr Andy Douse, policy and advice manager for ornithology at Scottish National Heritage, said: "The decline of some of the scarce breeding species, such as the whimbrel, is possibly another indicator of the impact of climate change."

The updated study does contain some positives. Six species – stone curlew, woodlark, quail, Scottish crossbill, bullfinch and reed bunting – have been moved from the 2002 red list to the amber list.