Press release

Wild bird populations 2009

Bird populations are considered to be a good indicator of the broad state of wildlife because birds occupy a wide range of habitats.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Population indices up to 2009 are published today for native breeding farmland birds, woodland birds, water and wetland birds, seabirds and wintering waterbirds for England and the UK as a whole.

Bird populations are considered to be a good indicator of the broad state of wildlife because birds occupy a wide range of habitats, they tend to be near or at the top of food chains and there are considerable long-term data on changes in bird population which helps in the interpretation of shorter term fluctuations.

Published 20 January 2011