News pages

Tuesday 29th March

Woodpigeon tops Berkshire’s Big Schools Birdwatch

Record number of school children take part in 10th birthday celebrations

A record number of children in Berkshire took part in the RSPB’s Big Schools Birdwatch this year, and their results showed that the Woodpigeon was the most common visitor to local playgrounds.

This year’s participants counted an average of 6.2 Woodpigeons per school. The Blackbird came second in the county, with an average of 5.4 per school, while last year’s winner, the Starling, fell to third place with 3.8 per school.

A total of 878 children and 71 adults in 23 schools in Berkshire participated in the survey.

Christina MacFarquhar of the RSPB South East, said “We’re delighted that so many schools took part in the year of our tenth anniversary.

“The survey is a fantastic way to introduce children to the wildlife visiting their school grounds, and it inspires them and their teachers to ask all sorts of interesting questions.

“Which parts of the school do birds visit? What do they seem to be doing there? Is there anything we can do to encourage more species to visit next year?

“Exploring these issues can help us learn something about how wildlife is affected by changes in the environment, and what we can do to make school grounds more wildlife friendly.”

Almost 90,000 school children and teachers in more than 2000 schools across the UK stepped up for nature this year by taking part in the wildlife survey.

Over the last ten years, the Big Schools’ Birdwatch has highlighted the winners and losers in the school bird world.

Blackbird numbers have increased by 88% in schools and were the UK number one this year. Numbers of Starlings, which were the UK number one until 2009, have declined by a third.

Since its launch in 2002, the school surveys have recorded more than 70 different species, ranging from Starlings and House Sparrows, to Kestrels and even Pheasants.

Christina added “As well as being fun and educational, the survey is also important as it helps the RSPB build a picture of birds visiting school grounds and how their populations are changing.”

The survey, which asks children and their teachers to spend an hour counting the birds in their school grounds, took place between 24 January to 4 February. A total of 111,379 birds were counted.

The benefits of contact with nature are now widely recognised as playing an important role in a child’s education and social development. Independent research has found that such activities can have a positive impact on children’s mental and physical health.

The Big Schools’ Birdwatch can be integrated into many curriculum areas. Increasingly schools are making the activity the centrepiece of a whole week devoted to learning about wild birds. Some schools hold birdwatch breakfasts or after school wildlife clubs, while others transform classrooms into bird hides.

Since its launch, the survey has grown in popularity, and last year, the RSPB introduced the Little Schools’ Birdwatch especially designed for 5s and under.

This year, Really Big Schools’ Birdwatch has also been introduced for Key Stage 3 pupils (11-14 year olds).

For the full UK-wide Big Schools’ Birdwatch results visit: www.rspb.org.uk/schoolswatch