Hawfinch
Coccothraustes coccothraustes
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Distribution Britain 315 (-31.4%) Ireland 0
Numbers breeding: Britain 4,750 Ireland 0 European status: 1,300,000 (0% in Britain and Ireland) British population trend: apparently declining badly How likely are you to record it? 3 squares (0.1%) Ranked 171= |
This spectacular large and big-billed finch is not easy to find and record. It may have bred very sparingly 200 years ago but, by the end of the 19th century, it bred through most of England (except the south-west peninsula), Wales (except for the West) and just possible in Midlothian. By 1920 it was breeding in Dumfries and more widely in the eastern lowlands. Later some were found breeding near Aberdeen and the birds gradually completed the colonisation of England and Wales but did not reach Ireland to breed. Possibly they reached a peak of numbers and range at the time of the first Breeding Atlas for they were recorded from 31% less 10-km squares in the second. Several detailed series of records show that the birds have really declined and that this is unlikely to be a result of the different recording methods. A pair may have bred in Co. Clare in 1991. The birds are not yet regular garden bird feeders here but are in many areas on the Continent (e.g. Vienna). If they learn to do this they may regain their former numbers and distribution.
From
The
State of the Nations Birds
Copyright © 2000 by Chris Mead