As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Monday 3 November 2014

Hundreds of millions of birds have disappeared in 30 years

Europe has 421 million fewer birds today than it did three decades ago, as the growth of agriculture and urbanisation has sharply reduced suitable habitat, a new study has found.

Around 90 per cent of the losses have affected the most common and widespread species, including sparrows, skylarks, grey partridges and starlings.

Dr Richard Inger, one of the researchers from the University of Exeter, said: “It is very worrying that the most common species of bird are declining rapidly because it is this group of birds that people benefit from the most. It is becoming increasingly clear that interaction with the natural world and wildlife is central to human wellbeing, and significant loss of common birds could be quite detrimental to human society.”

However, not all common birds are declining. Populations of great tits, blue tits, robins and blackbirds, are all going up, the study found.


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