Regional Wild Bird Indicators

The recent release from DEFRA (based on BTO BBS data) indicates that the north-west is a good place to do your birding. For the period 1994-2006, farmland birds saw a small increase, in the north generally, woodland birds increased in the north-west, specifically, as did the overall population index of all native birds.
For farmland birds as a whole the national decline was 7%, increasing to 10% when considering the SW, SE and West Midlands alone. Northern regions witnessed a small increase.
With woodland birds the SW and SE again had declines, of 19% and 10% respectively, while the East Midlands, NW, NE, Yorkshire and Humber all increased. Yorkshire and Humber increased by 19% while the NW increased by a massive 32%. The rest of England stayed the same.
The population index for all native species increased only in the NW, NE, Yorkshire and Humber. For the NE the increase was 14%, Yorkshire and Humber 17%, and the NW an impressive 23%.
So tell your mates - the north-west is the place to be!
Full report is at : www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/wildlife/research/rwbi.htm