A pair of Hoopoes succeeded in raising three young from a nest in farmland in Leicestershire and Rutland. This distinctive species from southern Europe, its plumage a combination of salmon-pink and zebra stripes with a flamboyant crest, has bred sporadically in the UK for almost 200 years, but had been absent as a breeding species since 1996 when a pair bred in Wales. Before that there were four pairs in England in 1977, and there are a further 36 records of breeding in England dating back to 1835. The Hoopoe is a species of warm climates, being found from southern Europe across Asia as far as Japan, and south of the Sahara in Africa. It breeds in nest holes in trees and sometimes buildings, and uses its long curved bill to search for invertebrates in the ground.

Further north, a pair of Temminck’s Stint laid four eggs at a wetland site in Highland in 2023, though unfortunately the nest was washed out by rising water levels. This tiny wading bird was a regular, although extremely rare, breeder at small a number of sites in northern Scotland between 1969 and 1997, before disappearing. Birds have been returning to a secret Scottish location since 2021, but 2023 was the first time that a nesting attempt was confirmed.

The RBBP report also reveals that 15 species reached record totals in 2023. These include the White-tailed Eagle, with 160 pairs reported in the UK. This eagle, the UK’s largest raptor, continues to increase in Scotland following a reintroduction programme which began in 1975. A more recent project has been releasing White-tailed Eagles on the Isle of Wight since 2019, resulting in a pair breeding in Sussex in 2023 – the first nest in England since 1780. Another recovering bird of prey, the Marsh Harrier, topped 500 pairs for the first time – when the RBBP first began monitoring the UK’s rarest breeding birds in 1973 there were just six breeding females.

Five species of large wading bird reached new peaks in 2023 – Crane, Spoonbill, Bittern, Great White Egret and Little Egret – thanks in part to targeted conservation action including the creation of new wetland sites, the restoration and management of existing sites and better legal protection.

As well as good news the new RBBP report rings the alarm bell for some species. In northern Scotland, numbers of Slavonian Grebes fell to just 16 pairs, the lowest total since the RBBP began reporting in 1973. Similarly, there were only six pairs of Redwings found in the UK in 2023, the lowest ever recorded. In both cases these lows reflect declines in the wider global populations of these northern species.

There have been widespread outbreaks of bird flu (High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza) in the UK’s wild bird populations since 2021, and the RBBP’s report shows the impacts on some rare breeding bird species. Numbers of Roseate Terns at the UK’s only colony on Coquet Island, Northumberland, fell from 154 pairs in 2022 to 118 pairs in 2023, following the death of 90 adults from bird flu during the 2022 breeding season. Although breeding numbers were lower than those prior to bird flu, there are signs of hope, with 2024 representing the second most successful breeding season on record. The number of Peregrine Falcons reported – the most widespread of the rare species the RBBP reports upon – fell by 18% between 2022 and 2023, with declines noted in 66 counties, and it may be that mortality from bird flu was a cause.

Dr Mark Eaton, RBBP Secretary, said “The RBBP has collected data on the UK’s rarest breeding birds since 1973, giving us a long-term perspective on the winners and losers over the last half-century. It is heartening to see the return of absent species, and many others going from strength to strength as the result of targeted conservation action.”

Dawn Balmer, BTO Head of Surveys and RBBP Chair said “It’s been another terrific year for submissions of data to RBBP which has allowed another fantastic report to be produced. Very many thanks to all birdwatchers who submit their high quality records with counts and breeding evidence to the County Recorders, and huge thanks to all those in the County Recorder Network who do a brilliant job of collating the records and making an annual submission to RBBP.”