Bird populations across Europe have decreased by over 420 million in the past 30 years, according to a study that brings together the results of scientific surveys in 25 countries.

Some of the birds that have suffered the most alarming declines are the most well known species, including the house sparrow which has fallen in number by 147m or 62%, the starling (53%) and skylark (46% decline).

The study looked at 144 species across Europe between 1980 and 2009.

Dividing the species up into four groups, from extremely rare to most common, analysts found that a small number of common species declined by over 350 million that’s over 80% of the total population decline of birds in that time period.

The most commonly cited reason for this vast decline in bird species is agricultural intensification which has squeezed out areas that birds need for feeding and nesting.

But Richard Inger, from the University of Exeter emphasises that this can’t be seen as the only problem.

“People have tended to concentrate on farmland, but some of these species that don’t use farmland habitats at all, are also declining.

It’s a sign of wider scale environmental issues, such as increases in urbanisation,

And the only way we’re going to protect these widespread species is a more holistic approach to how we manage the environment in general.”

“This was a bit of a wake-up call really,” says Richard Inger.

“We knew we were going to see a big decline in bird populations,

But to see how big that number really was

And how focused the declines were on this small number of common species

Was really very surprising.”

Source: The Guardian (English National Newspaper)

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