It is widely accepted that human activity has altered much of the natural habitat across the world. However, until now the extent of human infrastructure in sites important for biodiversity has been less well known despite infrastructure being one of the greatest drivers of threats to biodiversity. A new study investigates.

Infrastructure can cause natural habitat destruction and fragmentation, pollution, increased disturbance…

Today, Defra have published a long-awaited indicator for the UK's upland birds, some of which are of international importance. Today’s guest blog by Pat Thompson, Senior Policy Officer (Uplands) explains the details.

The Upland Bird Indicator uses a range of survey data gathered since 1994, including data from the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) and other specialist surveys, trend lines have been generated…

Although there have been no full-time Bittern monitoring field staff since 2011, it was again encouraging to see the excellent coverage of sites across the country.  Many thanks to all the volunteers, conservation site staff and landowners who were able to monitor sites in 2022.

In 2022 the same number of booming males were recorded as in 2021.  A minimum of 228 boomers were recorded at 103 sites.  On RSPB reserves, 119…

The Rare Breeding Bird Panel (RBBP) turns 50 this year. In today’s blog Andrew Stanbury, Conservation Scientist, is taking this opportunity to celebrate this milestone anniversary by highlighting the important role the Panel plays in monitoring bird population and UK nature conservation more generally.   

To quote Monty Python- What has the Rare Breeding Birds Panel ever done for us? 

Well, the RBBP is an independent…

Later this year, there will be a full survey of breeding Hen Harriers in the UK. Today’s blog by Simon Wotton, Senior Conservation Scientist, explains the reason for this survey and how you can help.

The last national survey of this UK red-listed species of conservation concern was in 2016, when the population was estimated at 545 territorial pairs (95% confidence interval, 447–664), a 14% decline in the population…

A new paper reveals that light pollution from ships disrupts the activity of breeding Yelkouan Shearwaters and may affect their breeding success. In today’s blog, Martin Austad, lead author of the paper explains.

Yelkouan Shearwaters are seabirds which nest in deep burrows and caves in limestone cliffs across the Mediterranean Sea, and they approach these cliffs only under the cover of darkness to avoid being killed…

In summer 2022, the UK’s seabird populations were hit extremely hard by HPAI, with tens of thousands of birds dying across the UK. Today’s guest blog by Jean Duggan, Policy Assistant for Avian Influenza, explains the latest and what it means for the RSPB’s Centre for Conservation Science’s programme of work.

Taking on the role of Policy Assistant – Avian Influenza has been a steep learning curve…

During the recent global summit on biodiversity, world leaders committed to protecting 30% of the world’s oceans for nature. But which 30% of the oceans should be protected to safeguard the most vulnerable biodiversity? This question has beset ocean conservationists for decades because often protected areas are established in places with few competing interests, rather than where they will benefit biodiversity the…

Three years into a five-year pledge to completely phase out lead shot in UK game hunting, a Cambridge-led study finds that 94% of pheasants on sale for human consumption were killed using lead. Today’s guest blog by Professor Rhys Green explains

The pledge, made in 2020 by nine major UK game shooting and rural organisations, aims to protect the natural environment and ensure a safer supply of game meat for consumers…

A newly published paper presents an RSPB study on the response of Curlew to management interventions. Dr David Douglas, Principal Conservation Scientist, describes the results and their implications for Curlew conservation.

It is well established that the plight of our Eurasian Curlew (‘Curlew’) is one of the highest conservation priorities at home and internationally, because of the severe population declines…

In 2021 and 2022, no hunting of Turtle Doves was permitted in France, Spain or Portugal for the first time. This was an incredible respite for the UK’s fastest-declining species, given that loss of breeding habitat and unsustainable hunting are its primary threats. A recently published paper highlights some of the data that supported this momentous decision. Today’s guest blog by Dr Lara Moreno-Zarate from the Institute…

We're lucky to have incredible women at the RSPB’s Centre for Conservation Science, leading the charge on conservation projects both within the UK and abroad. If you’re interested in working in the environment sector, check out today’s blog on what kind of things you could get up to! This International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we’re celebrating our team and their exciting (and varied) work.…

New figures show Cranes continue to recover after going extinct in the UK 400 years ago. In today’s blog Andrew Stanbury, RSPB Conservation Scientist, takes us through their comeback and how conservation action has played a vital role.  

All too often in nature conservation, stories are full of doom and gloom; highlighting species in steep decline. However, today is World Wetland Day and this is a great opportunity…

In 2010 the RSPB started working with our Bulgarian partner BSPB on the Egyptian Vulture population that was in freefall back then. Between the 1980s and 2012 the Balkan population had plummeted from >600 pairs to only around 60 pairs.

Ringing an Egyptian Vulture chick with Volen Arkumarev and Ivailo Angelov from BSPB © S. Spasov

Through an ambitious conservation project (2012 to 2016) we first tried to understand…

In Iceland, an estimated 8,000 seabirds are thought to be accidentally killed as bycatch in the Lumpfish fisheries. In today’s blog Yann Rouxel, Bycatch Programme Manager, gives an update on a new piece of technology created to help.

Marine biodiversity is facing enormous pressure from a wide range of human activities. And a huge part of the problem is seabird ‘bycatch’, with an estimated 200,000 seabirds accidentally…

Dr Robert Hawkes, RSPB Conservation Scientist, explains the findings of a recently published paper. Here, RSPB and BTO scientists, in partnership with Natural England, explore how much bird-friendly agri-environment management is needed to stabilise or reverse farmland bird declines.

The UK government has recently committed to halting species abundance declines in England by 2030, with similar timebound EU targets currently…

The latest Birds of Conservation Concern Wales has recently been published in Milvus: the Journal of the Welsh Ornithological Society. Today’s blog by Dr Ian Johnstone, Senior Conservation Scientist, explains what’s changed since the last iteration.

The Birds of Conservation Concern lists come in three colours. The Red-list is for species of highest concern. Species are placed on the Amber-list if they are…

Two studies, led by the RSPB’s Centre for Conservation Science and the BTO and published yesterday, have highlighted the importance of protected sites in the UK, especially those with the highest levels of protection, for threatened and specialist bird species.

One paper, published yesterday in the journal Animal Conservation was authored by the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science and the BTO. The authors used…

Today’s blog is by Tom Finch, Senior Conservation Scientist, on a new paper which teases out the drivers of variation in Swift breeding success and survival

Like many other insectivorous birds, Swifts – the screaming, scythe-shaped, signallers of summer – are in decline. The reasons aren’t entirely clear, but loss of nesting sites and reductions in prey availability are plausible candidates.

A…

In 2021 a large consortium of conservation organisations led by RSPB and Tristan da Cunha tried to eradicate invasive non-native house mice from the World Heritage Site Gough Island – a rugged volcanic island in the middle of the South Atlantic that is home to millions of seabirds. Over the past decades the mice had started eating seabird eggs and chicks (and latterly adult birds too), and several species were decreasing…

Nearly 5,000m away, the Gola Rainforest National Park in Sierra Leone is one of the largest remaining blocks of Upper Guinea Forest. With such a large area, biodiversity surveying can often be tricky, which is why we’re trialling using environmental DNA (eDNA). Senior Conservation Scientist Felicity Edwards explains.

The RSPB has been working in Gola for over twenty years with local NGO’s and the government. However…

In recent years, our endemic race of willow tit (Poecile montanus kleinschmidti) have been lost from large areas of southern and eastern England and from parts of north and south Wales. Senior Conservation Scientist Simon Wotton explains why a survey was needed for this woodland birds, and what it shows us.

The willow tit is the fastest declining resident bird species in the UK, and the second-fastest declining species…

The Rare Breeding Birds Panel (RBBP) is an independent body established in 1972 to help monitor numbers, trends and distribution in the UK’s rare breeding birds. Every year, the team report back on the latest breeding data. In today’s blog, RSPB Conservation Scientist Andrew Stanbury and the Rare Breeding Birds Panel Secretary Mark Eaton explain the latest results.

Funded by the RSPB & JNCC with additional…

Guest blog by Nino Maag, postdoctoral researcher at the Swiss Ornithological Institute SOI. This research was a collaborative effort of the SOI, RSPB, Museum and Institute of Zoology – Polish Academy of Sciences, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Laboratory of Forest Biology – Wrocław University, Department of Biology – University of Marburg, and Division of Conservation Biology – University of…

The first phase of fieldwork has just been completed on an exciting interdisciplinary project in Sierra Leone. Social scientist Dr Natasha Constant and ecologist Dr Fiona Sanderson report back.

The Gola Rainforest National Park in Sierra Leone, where RSPB works closely with local NGOs and the Sierra Leonean government, is one of the largest remaining blocks of Upper Guinea Forest. It is a globally important biodiversity…