Starling count is top of the flocks

THE starling was most common visitor to Scottish school grounds in an annual bird survey.

More than 10,500 children and teachers from 338 schools took part in this year's RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch, counting birds for an hour between 18 January and 1 February.

The starling topped the table, with an average of 4.8 birds spotted at each school. In second place was the blackbird with an average of 4.1 birds, with the carrion crow, house sparrow and black-headed gull making up the 2010 top five.

There was a drop in the average number of sightings, possibly due to the snowy weather.