Press Releases - July/Aug 2006 - Item 6

No. 2006/07/33
July 2006

Snail Killers
Free pest control available for your garden

Song Thrushes are on the increase in Wales and they make a welcome
addition to any garden, as they are lethal snail-killing machines.
Do you have them in your garden and if so, how many?
The BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch Survey needs your help to monitor the numbers of these and other birds in Welsh gardens.

The latest BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey shows that Song Thrushes have increased by 36% over the last decade in Wales. This is great news for garden owners as Song Thrushes make a great ally in the ongoing battle against snails. These birds target snails for food and will smash open the shells using a hard surface, usually a stone, known as an ‘anvil’.

“Song Thrushes are perfect for garden pest control, eating the things we want to get rid of. Lots of species, like the Starling and Blue Tit, have similar roles eating leatherjackets and caterpillars,” says Mike Toms, the BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch coordinator.

So what birds do you have visiting your garden?

“Making simple notes of what you see in your garden can help us monitor what is happening to birds in gardens. Why not make these count and join in the largest survey of its kind in the world. The more people in Wales that take part the better idea we will have about what is happening to the country’s birds,” Mike adds.

The BTO scheme needs people in Wales to record the occurrence of birds in their gardens. It has been running its Garden BirdWatch survey since 1995 and has highlighted changes in the use of the nation’s gardens by different bird species. Some 400 participants currently take part in Garden BirdWatch in Wales and send in simple weekly records of the bird species using their gardens. To receive a free information pack about the survey, please send your name and address details to GBW Wales, BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU, email or telephone 01842-750050.

Notes for Editors

1) The BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch. The BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch is the only nationwide survey of garden birds to run weekly throughout the year, providing important information on how birds use gardens, and how this use changes over time. Currently, some 16,500 people take part in the project with 400 in Wales. The BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch is funded by participants’ contributions and supported by CJ WildBird Foods Ltd and is the largest year round survey of garden birds anywhere in the world. For more information see www.bto.org/gbw

2) CJ WildBird Foods. CJ WildBird Foods is Europe’s leading supplier of bird food and bird feeding products. CJ WildBird Foods has been responsible for a number of significant developments within the bird food and feeding industry, including the introduction of black sunflower seeds to the UK as a major new bird food and the development of specialist seed mixes for use in tubular feeders. The company has also been supporting research into the changing fortunes of garden bird populations, most notably through the BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch.

3) The Breeding Bird Survey is a partnership between the British Trust for Ornithology, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (on behalf of English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Countryside Council for Wales, and also on behalf of the Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

4) Colour photographs. Images of garden birds are freely available for use in association with this press release. Please contact to request an electronic version.

5) The BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch leaflet is also available in a Welsh language version.

6) The BTO has an ISDN line available for radio interviews.

For further information please contact:

Mike Toms on 01842 750050 or email (during office hours)
Out of office hours, please telephone: 07704 847935 (mobile)

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