Breeding Birds

Everything You Need to Know About Breeding Birds

Since 1970, the UK’s rarest breeding birds have suffered a decline of around 15%. It’s also happening away from the British Isles, with BirdLife International reporting that around one in six of all birds was lost over a forty-year period, affecting certain birds such as blue tits, great tits and house sparrows. The rare breeding birds panel (RBBP) began reporting on the population numbers of rare bird species and staging annual monitoring exercises in 1973, with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) supporting the panel from the first time it collected data on breeding birds.

All wild birds are protected under such legislation as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, but Schedule 1 specifically defends them against disruption during the breeding season, leaving a focus on any that have been seen to experience a potential threat of extinction. More specifically, acts to intentionally kill, injure or take wild bird species are illegal. Active nests are protected by law too, making acts to intentionally take, damage or destroy wild bird’s nests, all nest contents and nesting material such as spider silk illegal.

The first week of breeding season is vital in the reproduction process, and even if two pairs of a rare species are seen to be ineffective or a displaying male isn’t engaging with a potential mate, it can be a concerning early sign that the species could suffer in future years. Certain species were able to recover from the decline, including strongholds of black-winged stilts bred in Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire since 1995, with it becoming apparent that they were no longer among the list of rare breeding species once the number increased for the ninth successive year.

Elsewhere, the first confirmed breeding of the glossy ibis occurred in 2022, and several species achieved a record year for increasing their numbers, with record levels reported for the Mediterranean gull and Eurasian spoonbill in 2022 and the three raptors of the marsh harrier, northern goshawk and osprey seeing improved population numbers. With this, many birds are unaffected by the change and parent birds are as capable of reproducing as ever.

Sadly, however, other birds continue to have extremely poor breeding success over the last decade, leading to more restrictions around any exercises and practices that could add to further declines and see the lowest level of population numbers ever recorded. For one, local authorities need proof that developments won’t negatively affect breeding birds, especially on known nesting sites or where dead wild birds, old nests or flight feathers have been found.

Why Bird Populations Are Suffering

Several different factors have caused the historical depletion of breeding bird species, including:

Climate Change

Even subtle shifts in the environment could be enough to alter breeding seasons, food availability and migration patterns. If any of these elements are tampered with, the survival, nest building and reproduction of birds could be far more challenging. Birds migrate during the winter months, but continued changes to the climate could begin to affect them all year round.

Evolutionary Changes

Although it could happen over a long period of time, even a small number of steady evolutionary changes to the UK’s rarest breeding birds can be catastrophic, especially if it affects the reproductive systems of female birds, the process of egg-laying, and how chicks grow into dependent young birds to continue the cycle.

Loss of Habitat

Various actions can cause habitat loss, including agricultural intensification, deforestation, urban development and even people who deliberately stop birds from nesting. While it is largely driven by planning projects, any impact on native birds can be minimised or avoided entirely by arranging the necessary ecology surveys.

Predatory Behaviour

It can be a positive that other wildlife species are increasing in population numbers, but if they are a danger to breeding birds, it ends up being a negative for their survival. As well as being a potential threat to pet birds, cats are capable of killing wild birds and eggs each bird lays, depleting already dwindling numbers.

Spread of Diseases

Diseases such as highly pathogenic avian influenza are a common threat to birds, harming them and their breeding success rate. Several examples are available, including in 2022, where at least 90 adult roseate terns died from the disease on Coquet Island in Northumberland.

Rare Breeding Bird Species

Different species of breeding and nesting birds include:

• Barn Owl (Tyto alba)
• Bearded Tit (Panurus biarmicus)
• Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus)
• Corn Crakes (Crex crex)
• Firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla)
• Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
• Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
• Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)
• Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
• Red Kite (Milvus milvus)
• White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)

Other species that are either classed as reintroduced species, colonising species or the many species in an increasing trend of moving out of endangered status over the last ten years include the black-winged stilt, glossy ibis, Mediterranean gull, Eurasian spoonbill, little egret, great white egret and bee-eaters.

Breeding Birds Services

Surveys and Checks

As a way of inspecting a development site for rare breeding bird species, coming up with suitable ways of managing them and allowing developers to move forward with planning applications, we provide surveys and checks.

Both are similar, but each offers different benefits and uses. The report after both a survey and check will then help with satisfying the local authority and strengthening applications for planning permission.

In the section below, we briefly explain what a breeding bird survey and nesting bird check are, as well as detailing when they are useful to support planning.

Breeding Bird Survey

A breeding bird survey is a type of assessment that focuses on identifying bird species within a proposed development site during the breeding season. It involves several visits to the site in the morning to detect present breeding birds, and due to the breeding season and the behaviours of birds, assessments can only be undertaken between March and August. Any prohibited methods within the development plans that could harm wild birds intentionally or otherwise will be identified.

Over the course of a breeding bird survey, an ecological consultant will aim to uncover the presence of uncommon avian species and spot any particularly critical habitat features. The results will then dictate the suitable bird conservation measures and mitigation strategies to minimise the impact of the development on affected species and support the planning application, such as creating new nest boxes or cup nests as shelter from potential predators in partly or completely enclosed spaces.

Nesting Bird Check

A nesting bird check or breeding bird check is a type of ongoing maintenance and monitoring that must be completed before any vegetation clearance or site development activities, especially if they are set to happen during the breeding season from March until August. The process occurs at a later date after the breeding bird survey and ensures legal compliance and ties in with the aims of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

On each visit to the development site, an ecological consultant will inspect the entirety of the area for active bird nests, cross-referencing the locations of them with the plans of the development to ensure that they are avoided, unharmed and undisturbed. In most cases, a nesting bird check will be needed to ensure the safety of wild birds, and from it, suitable solutions will then be created, such as tweaking the project, training construction staff, or delaying work until outside of breeding season.

Contact Arbtech for Help and Advice

The rules and regulations around bird conservation cannot simply be ignored, especially as breaking any related laws can lead to unlimited fine averaging at £5,000 per offence and prison sentences of up to six months. If you’ve been asked for a breeding bird survey or ongoing nesting bird checks, booking in with us soon will avoid any delays to your planning project and prevent any issues with gaining planning consent from your local planning authority caused by the presence of birds.

Our team has been leading ecology surveys all over England for years, making us the number one ecological consultancy nationwide. The ecological consultants we hire are based all over the country to cater to every area, and we operate within trusted guidelines to ensure that your latest report from the breeding bird services we conduct is accurate and effective. For a free quote, message our team via email, call us, or fill out a quote form on our website.