The species has recently been moved from the amber to the green list because new data suggest that it does not qualify as internationally important during the breeding season. There were no annual monitoring data before the inception of BBS. BBS has shown apparent stability in Scotland and the UK since 1994, but this is generally thought to follow an earlier decline (Gibbons et al. 1993). Nest survival on grass moors, unlike that on heather moors, may have declined over time (Crick 1992a), perhaps linked to increased stocking densities of sheep (Fuller 1996). There is no clear trend in clutch size; a large number of late-season nest records, which provide higher proportions of two- and three-egg clutches, were submitted from an intensive study during 1996–98 (J.W. Pearce-Higgins, pers. comm.).

Population changes

Productivity trends

Additional information

• Maps and statistics from British and Irish atlases
• BirdFacts page on species biology
• BirdTrack results