03 December, 2015
STATISTICAL NEWS RELEASE: INDEX OF ABUNDANCE FOR SCOTTISH TERRESTRIAL BREEDING BIRDS
Statistical News Release
An Official Statistics Publication for Scotland
3 Dec 2015
INDEX OF ABUNDANCE FOR SCOTTISH TERRESTRIAL BREEDING BIRDS, 1994 TO 2014
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has today released the latest figures tracking the abundance of Scotland’s terrestrial breeding birds.
Over the long term (1994-2014), the combined abundance for 66 species of terrestrial breeding bird showed a steady increase up to the mid-2000s but has since declined. There is no significant difference between the start and end of the time series (using the smoothed indices – see note 2).
Using the unsmoothed indices, over the short-term (2013-2014), the upland index increased by 7%, farmland by 14%, woodland by 16% and all-species index by 15%. This increase may be partly down to improved breeding season conditions in 2014.
Analysis of habitat specific trends did show some change: woodland birds increased by 63%; farmland birds showed a steady increase up to the late-2000s but have since declined, so there is no significant difference between 1994 and 2014; and upland birds decreased significantly by 19%. There are numerous explanations for the long-term trends observed. These differ between species and include the conditions experienced in wintering areas (e.g. chiffchaff), the ability of some birds to exploit different food sources (e.g. goldfinch) or land use changes (e.g. curlew).
ENDS
1. The full statistical publication can be accessed at:
http://www.snh.gov.uk/publications-data-and-research/official-statistics/official-stats/terrestrial-breeding-birds
2. Smoothed indices are a statistical way of removing the year to year fluctuations that naturally appear, for example because of weather conditions or sampling variations to allow the underlying trend to be more easily seen.
3. The data used in the report primarily come from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) (http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/bbs)
4. Official statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
Contact information
- Name
- SNH Media
- snhmedia@snh.gov.uk
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