IS THROAT-LESION DISEASE CAUSING ESCALATING DECLINE IN BRITAIN'S CHAFFINCH POPULATION?

Funds needed to research steep population decline of a familiar bird of field and garden 

THE UK's foremost bird research organisation has warned that numbers of one of Britain's most familiar birds - the chaffinch - are plummeting.

According to the BTO, numbers of the bird have fallen by 30 per cent since 2007.

It is still a common species, but, if the trend continues, it could be added to the amber or red lists of birds in danger.

Now the Thetford-based organisation has launched an appeal which it hopes will reach £100,000 to fund further research.

Says the BTO's Kate Risely: "People may be shocked to learn that our chaffinch population is collapsing.

"Our most familiar of finches is vanishing from our gardens and countryside.

"Its sudden and steep decline is sounding alarm bells that we should not take its abundance for granted."

One theory for the decline is that a disease called trichomonosis is spreading in the species.

This causes lesions in the throat that can prevent an infected bird from swallowing food, creating the risk of starvation.

This was the disease that caused a 67 per cent decline in greenfinch numbers between 2007 and 2017.

However, the dramatic chaffinch decline has only been since 2012, suggesting that factors other than disease might be at play.

Continues Kate: "Only when we know the causes can effective targeted actions begin.

"The answers may be hidden in the data we are already collecting, but, without sufficient resources for research, they will remain unknown."

More information about the appeal is at: www.bto.org/chaffinch.