Experts predict many fewer birds in gardens this winter

03/12/2007 00:00:00 Researchers coordinating the British Trust for Ornithology’s Garden BirdWatch scheme are predicting a quiet winter for garden birdwatchers, as wild plants produce a bumper crop, encouraging birds to stay away from garden feeding stations. This year has seen a bumper crop of berries, fruits and seeds in our countryside. The hedgerows were ablaze with colour from the ripening hawthorn berries and the hips of dog rose. There was also a heavy blackberry crop and a huge crop of beech mast, the highest since 2002; all this means a large natural larder for garden birds.

Paul Stancliffe, of the BTO Garden BirdWatch team, said ‘When natural food is available wild birds will always choose this over what we put out for them, this will explain why we are seeing very few of them in our gardens.’ He added ‘As the weather gets colder and we see our first frosts, the fruits and berries will drop and become harder to find, this should result in an increase of birds coming to garden feeding stations’.

No one is better placed to chart the fortunes of our garden birds than the BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatchers. With over 16,000 members across the UK logging the birds that visit and feed in their gardens, they will be the first to notice if numbers of birds coming to gardens does increase over the winter.

Mike Toms, Garden BirdWatch organiser, said ‘It seems very likely that seed eating species, like Coal Tit, Chaffinch and Siskin will be pretty scarce in gardens this winter. The huge crop of beech mast, favoured by these species, should keep them within their favoured woodland habitats. Only if the weather turns really cold will they be forced to visit garden feeding stations.’

Photo courtesy of Adrian Faulkner photography.