Starlings top again in RSPB garden birdwatch
Shetland’s remains a stronghold for starlings, according to results from the RSPB’s annual citizen survey published this morning.
Starlings were spotted by 95 per cent of the islands’ “big garden birdwatch” participants this year, more than twice as commonly as on the mainland.
That makes Shetland a rare refuge compared to the rest of the UK, where the lowest number of the species were recorded this year since the survey began almost half a century ago.
Meanwhile, more wrens, crows and herring gulls were spied in Shetland this year; robins and common gulls, meanwhile, were harder to find.
RSPB’s Scotland director Anne McCall thanked over 40,000 people for participating in the survey across the nation.
“There’s been no let-up in the decline of our wildlife over recent decades, with one in nine wildlife species at risk of being lost from Scotland,” she said.
“To halt this decline and turn round the current downward trajectory, we need to help wildlife return across the country and make it a natural feature of everyday life. Our gardens and community greenspaces provide the perfect place for us as individuals to start.”
The RSPB recommends supporting bird life, including starlings, by keeping a natural lawn, avoiding pesticides and considering putting up a nest box.
“Mowing the lawn now and again is beneficial” too, so the birds can keep an eye out for predators while eating.
