Red-Amber-Green Lists of Birds in Wales are revised

Blog by Dr Ian Johnstone, Senior Conservation Scientist, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science based at the RSPB Cymru North Wales Office

With the recent launch of the revised Birds of Conservation Concern (BoCC) lists for Wales, this is the perfect opportunity to talk about what the lists mean for nature in Wales. Why we produce the lists is crucial, as changes in the lists at this third revision ensure the species of greatest conservation concern in Wales - and their habitats - are then highlighted to key Welsh Government environmental decision makers.

As Welsh Government (WG) has increasingly taken the lead in shaping policy on the environment, conservation organisations have responded by delivering nature conservation advocacy at a devolved level. BoCC has recently been revised for the UK (seen here). However, there is much regional variation in the health of bird populations between the UK Countries. Therefore, as part of RSPB Cymru and partners informing Wales-level environmental and nature conservation policy, we have also revised the lists specifically for Wales.

Photo: Curlew, by Andy Hay (RSPB images)

How does BoCC work?
Over 400 bird species have occurred naturally in Wales. However, because many are only recorded occasionally, we use rules to categorise them into those that have established populations, used to occur but are now extinct, or currently occur only as scarce migrants and vagrants. On applying these we get a list of 213 established species that include a mixture of residents and migrants. Some migrants only occur during breeding while others only occur in winter or on passage.

For each of these we collated the available data to compare with a set of seven main criteria - the same as those used in the UK assessment. These were: global importance; historic decline; recent population decline; European importance; rarity; localisation and international importance. In addition, and to reflect the ‘nested’ position of Wales within the larger UK, we used an additional eighth criterion to reflect the importance of populations in Wales to those in the wider UK.

Species are placed on the Red-list if they meet one or more of the following rules: are globally important, have declined historically, show recent severe decline, and have failed to recover from historic decline. Species are placed on the Amber-list if they meet one or more of these rules: are important in Europe, show recent moderate decline, show some recovery from historical decline, or occur in internationally important numbers, have a highly localised distribution or are important to the wider UK. Any species not qualifying under any of these rules is placed on the Green-list.

Making the most of data
As in the wider UK, we are lucky in that there are numerous long-running schemes active in Wales, many relying on citizen scientists getting out and bird watching. However, they vary in the kinds of birds they monitor and the rigour of their coverage. Nevertheless, they can all generate some level of information to inform our eight criteria.

Despite these schemes, there are still a few species for which we lack some Wales-level data. In such ‘data deficient’ cases we used data for the UK where they matched expert opinion of the situation in Wales. If this was not the case or data were otherwise lacking, we did not make an assessment against some criteria, and thus were conservative in our approach.

Photo: Puffy, by Chiara Ceci (RSPB images)

Winners and losers on the new Welsh lists
Fifty five species were placed on the Red list (an increase of nine). Eighty nine were placed on the Amber list (a fall of 10). The remaining 69 were placed on Green list (an increase of one). Most changes were between Red and Amber lists (10 upward, three downward), but two species, Black-legged Kittiwake and Whinchat, moved from Green to Red. Movements could be accounted for primarily by real changes in populations, although changes to criteria did account for a small number as they did in the UK assessment.

More breeding birds of coastal, farmland and upland habitats were Red and Amber listed than for other habitat groups. Furthermore, there were more additions to the Red list among coastal and upland breeding birds than among birds of other habitats. Wintering and passage migrants represent a fourth group of birds over-represented on Red and Amber lists.

This reassessment highlights that coastal breeding birds is a new group to watch, in addition to the already important farmland and upland bird groups. The new lists were published in the summer 2016 edition of the Welsh Ornithological Society journal Birds in Wales, and a summary is available from RSPB Cymru here.