BIRDWATCHERS being encouraged to take part in the largest garden wildlife survey in the UK.

Returning this month is the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, which saw nearly 700,000 people take part last year, counting 11million birds, including 8,000 people from Cumbria.

The house sparrow was top in the Cumbria rankings in 2022 as the most-seen garden bird, followed closely by starling and woodpigeon. 

Across the UK the house sparrow also took the top spot, with more than 1.7million recorded sightings throughout the weekend, with the blue tit and starling remaining in the number two and three positions.

This year’s event takes place on January 27, 28 and 29, 2023.

People are asked to spend just one hour watching and recording the birds in their garden, balcony or local park, record the highest number of each bird species they see at any one time, and then send their results to the RSPB.

Beccy Speight, the RSPB’s chief executive, said: “The birds we see in our gardens, from our balconies, and in our parks, are a lively, colourful, and endlessly fascinating part of all our lives, offering a real connection to the natural world.

“By taking part in the birdwatch you, and hundreds of thousands like you, play an important role in helping us understand how UK birds are doing.

“With birds now facing so many challenges due to the nature and climate emergency, every count matters.”

The charity said over its four decades, Big Garden Birdwatch has highlighted the winners and losers in the garden bird world.

It was the first to alert the RSPB to the decline in song thrush numbers, which are down 81 per cent compared to the first Big Garden Birdwatch in 1979.

This species was a firm fixture in the top 10 in 1979, but by 2009, its numbers were less than half those recorded in 1979.

It came in at 20 in the rankings last year, seen in just eight per cent of gardens.

For a free Big Garden Birdwatch guide, which includes a bird identification chart, top tips for your birdwatch, an RSPB shop voucher, and advice on how to help you attract wildlife to your garden, text BIRD to 70030 or visit www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch.

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