Although House Sparrows are conspicuous birds and can still be found cheeping away in many areas, their numbers have fallen sharply in recent years, leading to their inclusion on the Birds of Conservation Concern Red List. Declines are greater in urban than in rural areas, and in eastern and south-eastern Britain than in other parts of the country (where the population is stable or increasing). A new study by the BTO has used data collected by volunteers participating in Garden Birdwatch (GBW), the Nest Record Scheme (NRS) and the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) to investigate possible reasons underpinning these trends. The research focussed on measures of breeding performance. In keeping with population trends, GBW data showed that annual productivity was highest in Wales and lowest in the east of England, but that there was no difference between rural and urban areas. The regional difference in GBW productivity was mirrored by NRS data, which revealed that House Sparrow clutch and brood sizes were significantly lower in the east of Britain than in the west. The number of breeding attempts per year and post-fledging survival did not differ between regions, so are not thought to contribute to the differences in population trends. The results suggest that the processes driving regional differences in House Sparrow productivity are likely to be complex and operating over a large-scale (e.g. climatic processes), but interacting with local factors (e.g. habitat changes). The absence of productivity differences between rural and urban areas suggests other factors contribute to the varying population trends in these habitats, for instance differences in food availability affecting adult survival. This work demonstrates the importance of large-scale datasets collected by citizen science projects in understanding drivers of population change, which is vital for implementing effective conservation measures.

Waterbirds in the UK presents the summarised results of the annual WeBS report, and full data available via the WeBS Report Online. It provides a single, comprehensive source of information on the current status and distribution of waterbirds in the UK for those interested in the conservation of the populations of these species and the wetland sites they use.

Waterbirds in the UK presents the summarised results of the annual WeBS report, and full data available via the WeBS Report Online. It provides a single, comprehensive source of information on the current status and distribution of waterbirds in the UK for those interested in the conservation of the populations of these species and the wetland sites they use.

Following the establishment of a tree-nesting colony of Great Cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo at Abberton Reservoir, Essex, in 1981, the inland breeding population in England has increased considerably. Successful breeding has now occurred at 89 inland sites and, while Cormorants have been actively dissuaded from breeding at a number of these, the inland population in England reached about 2,362 breeding pairs at 48 sites in 2012. Increasing numbers of Cormorants on inland waters in England have intensified conflict between Cormorants and fisheries. This resulted in an increase in the number of Cormorants that could be killed under licence to 3,000 per year during the winters of 2004/05 and 2005/06, after which licences for up to 2,000 birds per year have been issued.There is some evidence that the inland breeding population is now stabilising, mainly as a result of declines at some of the older colonies established in the 1980s and early 1990s. New inland colonies continue to be established, however, most notably through expansion of their range into the southwest