The 2019 report of the Rare Breeding Birds Panel was published in British Birds in November 2021 (Eaton et al. 2021) and can be obtained by subscription at www.britishbirds.co.uk; a pdf of the report will be available on this website in due course.
The report documents the status of the 99 species and subspecies of rare and scarce native birds that were recorded breeding, or showing signs of breeding, in the UK in 2019; only 2014 and 2015, with 100, have bettered this total. Population totals are given for each species in the report, alongside a breakdown in records by country and recording area, and where possible updated trends are given. A table summarising species’ totals and trends can be found here. In addition, records were compiled for 10 rare non-native breeding species.
The report bears a number of similarities with that for 2018. Of the ten species that reached the highest totals ever reported by the RBBP in 2018, eight[1] continued to increase and hence posted new record numbers in 2019. In addition, a ninth species, Cattle Egret, also reached a record total; nineteen pairs were reported, of which nine were confirmed as breeding and at least 24 young were fledged. This increase in Cattle Egrets in the UK reflects a dramatic increase in both numbers and range across southern Europe, with northward range expansion bringing increasing numbers to the UK. For many of the UK’s rare breeding birds, changes in our populations can be related to patterns across Europe, and this year’s RBBP report has made a particular effort to make these links by presenting evidence from monitoring programmes in Europe, such as the maps presented in the newly published European Breeding Bird Atlas 2. In the case of Cattle Egret, it is likely that a combination of improved protection and climate change has driven the range expansion and increased arrival of birds in the UK. The same is likely true for other species including Eurasian Spoonbill (a new record total of 37 pairs was reported in 2019) and Black-winged Stilt (which attempted to breed for the sixth year in a row). An increase in conservation effort, including legislative protection, is likely to have been the most important factor in the recovery of Common Crane and Great White Egret in Europe and thus increased immigration to the UK, leading to their record totals of 48 and 24 breeding pairs respectively. The protection and management of wetland sites in the UK is enabling these species, and others, to prosper once they reach the UK.
Other species reached new record totals due to homegrown conservation efforts. White-tailed Eagle numbers continue to grow following the success of reintroduction projects in Scotland, with 123 pairs known in 2019, and Eurasian Bittern numbers rose for the 14th consecutive year, with 227 booming males reported. Numbers of Roseate Terns also rose again, although their range is very restricted: of the 125 pairs, 122 were at the stronghold on Coquet Island in Northumberland. In Sussex, a pair of White Storks – one wild, one from a new reintroduction project – were the first storks to lay eggs in the UK for many centuries.
Last year we reported on declines in four resident species due to mortality caused by the ‘Beast from the East’ late winter storm in February-March 2018. All four species – Little Egret, Bearded Tit, Woodlark and Dartford Warbler – showed substantial recoveries in 2019 although none quite returned to 2017 levels. Numbers of Common Quail, a migrant species known for showing large fluctuations between years, were well above average following a very low year in 2018.
Of course, not all of the species that the RBBP reports upon are prospering. A number of once more widespread species have barely featured in recent RBBP reports – we received only one report for Fieldfare, two of Golden Oriole (which has not been confirmed as breeding since 2009), and none at all for Wryneck in 2019. For the second year in a row there was only one confirmed breeding pair of Montagu’s Harrier. While clearly not under the same level of threat, the number of Little Terns was the second-lowest in 25 years of reporting, and three species of northern areas, Capercaillie, Slavonian Grebe and Redwing, all had poor years.
For the first time, this report looks at the overall balance of change in the species for which we are able to produce robust trends, and found a nearly even split: 20 species were classified as increasing with 18 decreasing (and 15 regarded as stable) over the last 25 years.
[1] Common Crane, Wood Sandpiper, Eurasian Spoonbill, Eurasian Bittern, Great White Egret, Northern Goshawk, White-tailed Eagle and Common Redpoll