DECLINING WILLOW TITS

	For the Latest Upload Images of Lincolnshire Birds and Wildlife Click Here

	Birds in Lincolnshire Declining Willow Tits
	DECLINING WILLOW TITS - by Graham Catley May 13th I was able to assist two travelling twitchers from Essex in adding a Willow Tit to their year list-number 297. Now, however you look at the ethics of year listing the fact that anyone could see 296 species in Britain without seeing a Willow Tit must say something about the state of the British Willow Tit population. They also informed me that there is only reckoned to be one pair left in Essex and very few in Suffolk. The Hull birders who regularly come to Far Ings to see Willow Tits on the feeders in winter similarly inform me that there are none left in Holderness and most of East Yorkshire. Willow Tit by Graham Catley So how are they doing in Lincolnshire? The submissions to the Lincs Bird report are hardly revealing with very few reported in most years. In 1999 I located 11 territories along the clay pits between Barton and New Holland but this year there are less and perhaps significantly at least two males do not have mates. This can be a sign of a population on the increase or conversely on the decrease. At Laughton Forest there are about 9 pairs this year and I regularly come across a few other pairs in various woodlands in the northwest of the county but they seem to have disappeared from some previous held areas between Goxhill and Killingholme. This is a species much rarer than Tree Sparrow, you never see winter flocks of 140 Willow Tits! And being essentially sedentary once a population dies out there is little hope of replacement. So keep an eye and an ear out for Willow Tits and report all sightings with a GR if possible and any background information on recent status in your area to your local recorders or email it to me and I will pass it on. Postscipt - Ed. The BTO state that the CBC (Common Bird Census) results show the species to have dropped 56% in 10 years 1988-1998, also showing the largest percentage decline in 1999. Alan Ball has also commented on a marked decline of this species, but the opposite can be said for Marsh Tit which has shown an increase based upon actual numbers ringed in woodlands in South Lincolnshire since 1977 ie. in 1980 the ratio of Marsh Tit to Willow Tit was 12:35, compared with 1998 when the ratio was 14:2.
	{c}
	For the Latest Upload Images of Lincolnshire Birds Click Here Return to LBC Homepage Lincolnshire Bird Club 2001 - 2006 - Website Forktail Design