Woodland and farmland birds are thriving in Scotland but upland birds continue to struggle, according to figures published by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).
SNH tracks the abundance of Scotland’s terrestrial breeding birds using results from the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey. The report shows woodland birds increasing by 69 per cent between 1994 and 2017 and farmland birds up by 14 per cent. In contrast, upland birds have decreased by 17 per cent.
Among woodland birds, the biggest long-term rises were for chifachaff, great spotted woodpecker and blackcap. Tree pipits, willow warblers and song thrush recorded increases of more than 10 per cent between 2016 and 2017.