BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside

GRASSHOPPER WARBLER Locustella naevia

Conservation listings

Table 4/Amber (25-49% Distribution decline)
Biodiversity Steering Group Conservation Concern List

Long-term trend

UK: Probable decline

Status summary

Grasshopper Warbler was Amber-listed because of a contraction in range during the period preceeding the 1988-91 Atlas, reportedly due to habitat loss (Gibbons et al. 1993). CBC analysis cannot be conducted reliably because of small sample sizes but a rapid population decline is believed to have occurred. The BBS shows fluctuations in abundance but no net change. If given suitable habitat and conditions, the species has a high reproductive potential, as demonstrated by a detailed analysis of the NRS dataset (Glue 1990).

Table of population changes for Grasshopper Warbler

Source Period
(yrs) Years Plots
(n) Change
(%) Lower
limit Upper
limit Alert Comment

CBC farmland 31 1968-1999 5 -77 -98 -33 >50 Small sample

25 1974-1999 4 9 -88 146 Small sample

10 1989-1999 3 -25 -63 71 Small sample

5 1994-1999 3 38 -36 115 Small sample

BBS UK 6 1994-2000 59 5 -28 52

BBS England 6 1994-2000 27 -5 -45 63 Small sample

The Breeding Bird Survey is jointly funded by BTO, JNCC and RSPB

No productivity information available for this species

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This report should be cited as:
Baillie, S.R., Crick, H.Q.P., Balmer, D.E., Beaven, L.P., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Leech, D.I., Marchant, J.H.,
Noble, D.G., Raven, M.J., Simpkin, A.P., Thewlis, R.M. and Wernham, C.V. (2002) Breeding Birds in the Wider
Countryside: their conservation status 2001. BTO Research Report No. 278. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends)

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