CLIMATE warming might benefit birds such as lesser spotted woodpecker and
nightingale, but it is"unlikely to counterbalance declines in other
woodland species".
That is one of the conclusions of the BTO’s State of the UK's Birds 2017.
It states: “Long-distance migrants such as pied flycatchers and tree pipits may be vulnerable to ongoing change in the timing of insect availability in their breeding grounds, and the impact of climate change in their wintering grounds may be affecting overwinter survival.”
It states: “Long-distance migrants such as pied flycatchers and tree pipits may be vulnerable to ongoing change in the timing of insect availability in their breeding grounds, and the impact of climate change in their wintering grounds may be affecting overwinter survival.”
Great tits, wrens, nuthatches, treecreepers and dunnocks
appear to have been benefiting from milder winters, and the report notes the
continuing UK
expansion of Cetti’s warbler (dating as far back as 1973).
In the UK, the Dartford warbler, a species once at risk of extinction, has also extended its breeding range well beyond Hampshire and the South-west, but climate change appears to have been a factor in its decline in France and Spain.
The document suggests that the increasing population of little egrets “may be related to better protection and habitat provision instead of or as well as climate change”.
In Scotland, the capercaillie continues to struggle, with the population thought to have dwindled to a mere 1,114 individuals possibly as a result of poor breeding because of cooler springs and higher rainfall in June when the chicks hatch.
In the UK, the Dartford warbler, a species once at risk of extinction, has also extended its breeding range well beyond Hampshire and the South-west, but climate change appears to have been a factor in its decline in France and Spain.
The document suggests that the increasing population of little egrets “may be related to better protection and habitat provision instead of or as well as climate change”.
In Scotland, the capercaillie continues to struggle, with the population thought to have dwindled to a mere 1,114 individuals possibly as a result of poor breeding because of cooler springs and higher rainfall in June when the chicks hatch.
Predation is a problem as is mortality resulting from
collision with deer fences.
Based on a 2015 survey, the report has come up with the interesting statistic that the number of pairs of housemartins in the UK is reckoned to be between 650,000 and 850,000.
Among marine species, generalist feeders such as guillemots gannets, black-headed gulls and razorbills are more than holding their own, but prey-specific species such as kittiwakes, puffins and terns continue to be on the slide.
The report’s authors fear that Leach’s petrels, storm petrels and even Arctic skuas could come “close to or reach UK extinction by 2100”.
The shag is another species of concern as a result of changing weather patterns. Its plumage is only partially waterproof, “perhaps making the bird more susceptible to mortality during prolonged periods of wet and wind”.
Meanwhile, dotterel, purple sandpiper and whimbrel, where the UK is at the southern edge of their global breeding range “have an inherently higher risk of climate-related extinction”.
Likewise, prospects are not bright for curlew and golden plover.
The State of the UK's Birds 2017 report can be read at:
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