BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Nuthatch

NUTHATCH
Sitta europaea

Conservation listings

Europe: no SPEC category (favourable conservation status in Europe, not concentrated in Europe)
UK: green

Long-term trend

UK, England: rapid increase

Distribution maps

Maps and statistics from British and Irish
atlases can be viewed here.

Status summary

Nuthatch abundance has increased rapidly since the mid 1970s. Despite minor setbacks during the 1990s, there is no indication yet of a halt to the upward trend. This increase has been accompanied by a range expansion into northern England (Gibbons et al. 1993) and has been associated with a large increase in brood size. The reasons for these changes are unknown. A trend towards earlier laying, perhaps as a result of climate change (Crick et al. 1997), has also been identified.

Table of population changes for Nuthatch

Source	Period (yrs)	Years	Plots (n)	Change (%)	Lower limit	Upper limit	Alert	Comment
CBC/BBS UK	35	1967-2002	129	126	68	230
	25	1977-2002	164	94	47	141
	10	1992-2002	305	22	7	34
	5	1997-2002	393	11	2	20
CBC/BBS England	35	1967-2002	112	124	62	224
	25	1977-2002	142	86	41	139
	10	1992-2002	257	21	5	41
	5	1997-2002	325	10	0	20
BBS UK	9	1994-2003	303	42	24	61
BBS England	9	1994-2003	249	37	19	57
BBS Wales	9	1994-2003	54	57	13	118

Table of productivity information for Nuthatch

Variable Period
(yrs) Years Mean
annual
sample Trend Predicted
in first year Predicted
in last year Change Comment

Clutch size 34 1968-2002 25 None Small sample

Brood size 34 1968-2002 57 Curvilinear 4.03 chicks 5.26 chicks 1.23 chicks

Daily failure rate (eggs) 34 1968-2002 44 None

Daily failure rate (chicks) 34 1968-2002 48 None

Laying date 34 1968-2002 26 Linear decline day 122 day 112 -10 days Small sample

Insufficient data on CES
available for this species


	BTO Home \| JNCC Home BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU, UK. © British Trust for Ornithology (Registered Charity Number 216652). Terms and Conditions \| Privacy Statement Email:
This report should be cited as: Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Crick, H.Q.P., Noble, D.G., Balmer, D.E., Beaven, L.P., Coombes, R.H., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. and Thewlis, R.M. (2005) Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2004. BTO Research Report No. 385. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends) Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 18 January, 2006