Birds have flown as sightings fall

Garden birds are falling in the Black Country and Staffordshire, the victim of an appalling summer, according to RSPB figures released today. People from across the region took part in the Big Garden Birdwatch.

The survey found the numbers of birds spotted was at the lowest level for five years – the average number of birds seen in gardens has declined by a fifth since 2004. House sparrows were top of the garden bird league table in the region with starlings and blackbirds as the runners-up.

Last year's wet breeding season appears to have had a significant impact on the number of birds visiting local gardens. The survey results indicate blue tits were particularly badly hit by the severe weather with far fewer visiting gardens than in recent years.

In Birmingham and the Black Country, the average number of blue tits reported fell from 2.8 in 2007 to 2.3 this year.

Blue tits, which normally have only one brood per year, experienced their worst ever breeding season in 2007, with just over half of young blue tits fledging.

Although still one of the most common birds in UK gardens, fewer house sparrows were also reported in many areas of the West Midlands, and the RSPB is concerned by the indication of continuing decline.

Nationally, sparrow numbers have decreased by almost two thirds since 1979.

RSPB spokeswoman Louise Pedersen said: "We predicted last year's terrible weather would be reflected by the Big Garden Birdwatch, and this seems to be the case, especially for blue tits.

"A snapshot in winter only gives part of the picture, but this year's results also suggest a further fall in sparrow numbers."

Over the weekend of January 26-27, more than 11,000 people in the region helped the RSPB survey.

It also showed four colourful species of finches are increasingly visiting gardens. Siskins, bullfinches, redpolls and goldfinches were all more common. For the first time, the goldfinch made it into the UK Top 10 list.

Top 10 for Black Country and Staffordshire

1 House sparrow - average per garden 3.6 (2007 - 4.4)

2 Starling - 2.9 (2.8)

3 Blackbird - 2.5 (2.5)

4 Woodpigeon - 2.3 (2.2)

5 Bue tit - 2.3 (2.1)

6 Magpie - 1.6 (1.6)

7 Robin - 1.3 (1.3)

8 Great tit - 1.1 (1.1)

9 Dunnock - 0.9 (1.0)

10 Collared dove - 0.9 (0.9)