The Wash is England’s largest Special Protection Area, with Oystercatchers being a designated feature. During the winter, Oystercatchers rely heavily on Cockles and Blue Mussels for their food requirements, creating the potential for conflict with the human fisheries for these species.

This is the 29th annual report of the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) and Waterways Breeding Bird Survey (WBBS), documenting the population trends of widespread UK breeding bird species during the periods 1994–2023 and 1998–2023 respectively. These are the main schemes for monitoring the population changes of the UK’s widespread breeding birds, providing an important indicator of the health of the countryside. The results are published annually as Official Statistics and used widely by Defra and the Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies (SNCBs, e.g. Natural England and NatureScot) to set priorities and to inform conservation action, and as the evidence base against which the UK’s biodiversity targets are measured. BBS data are also routinely used in research, with recent examples including peer-reviewed papers published in 2022 and 2024 which measured the efficacy of the UK’s network of protected areas in supporting wildlife. The 2023 Breeding Bird Survey Report celebrates the 30-year anniversary of fieldwork for the scheme, in particular the amazing commitment and dedication of its volunteers. It is a mixed picture for birds: Swift and Swallow show widespread decline, whereas some species are faring better, particularly in Scotland where species of scrub and woodland are doing better than in England. Download the 2023 report > Browse all editions of the Breeding Bird Survey Report >Press releases UK Northern Ireland Scotland Wales

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. Data from this edition of Waterbirds in the UK provide further evidence that wintering ducks, geese, swans and waders are adapting to climate change by altering their migration.

The Seabird Monitoring Programme, funded by the British Trust for Ornithology and Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), in association with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, aims to ensure that sample data on seabird breeding numbers and breeding productivity are collected both regionally and nationally, for 25 species of seabird that regularly breed in Britain and Ireland, to enable their conservation status to be assessed.