Dartmoor – hope for an iconic summer visiting bird on the brink of extinction.

The action of Dartmoor farmers, RSPB [1] scientists and the Our Upland Commons Project, is providing hope for Whinchats in Dartmoor. The focus is on restoring the grassland habitats they like in the unenclosed uplands of Dartmoor, one of their last remaining strongholds in the South West.

Smaller than a robin, Whinchats have striking plumage with a noticeable white eye stripe and orange throat and chest. The red listed [2] bird has declined in the UK by 60% between 1995 and 2022 [3] and is now increasingly confined to the marginal uplands of Scotland, northern England, central Wales, the Isle of Man, Exmoor and Dartmoor.

A report, published by the RSPB this August (2024), highlights actions that could help to maintain breeding populations in Dartmoor. Its authors, Dr Robert Hawkes and Helen Booker, used a 1979 Dartmoor-wide, breeding bird survey to explore why Whinchats have now disappeared from some areas but not others.

Robert, a conservation scientist at the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, said:

“In this population, steep-sided valleys, with a light scattering of trees, away from intensive enclosed farmland is better for Whinchats. Common land can be perfect with the appropriate grazing levels They are also more likely to persist in areas with a mixed bracken, heather and bilberry field-layer. It is great that positive action is being taken now. But further work is urgently needed to understand if this can help the recovery of this iconic upland breeder,” added Robert.

This work is part of a £3m project ‘Our Common Cause: Our Upland Commons’ which is helping to secure the future of upland commons in England. Led by the Foundation for Common Land [4], with the backing of 25 partners, it is made possible by funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, grants from Esmée Fairbairn and Garfield Weston Foundations and support from local funders. It is proving that common land is vital for nature, archaeology, climate, wetlands, trees and access, alongside livestock production.

Project Officer Tamsin Thomas said: “Thanks to this careful research, commoners and landowners have some solid recommendations to follow. Many are already acting on the findings. On Holne, common land owner, Kevin Cox, and farming commoner, John French, have planted 100 scattered trees in an area of bracken surrounding a recently rewetted valley mire. The trees are protected from grazing animals using unobtrusive cactus guards.

“Also Holne and Harford and Ugborough commoners are taking action to understand the impact of the pesticides they use to protect their livestock from tick borne diseases on dung beetle numbers. Whinchats eat a range of invertebrates including beetles, flies, spiders, moths, bees and ants,” added Tamsin.

Anyone interested in the report can find a summary here.

The full report can be found here.

Notes:

[1]The RSPB is the UK’s largest nature conservation charity, protecting habitats, saving species, and helping to end the nature and climate emergency. For over a century we’ve acted for nature through practical conservation and powerful partnerships, campaigning and influence, and inspiring and empowering millions of people, including almost 1.2 million members. Our network of over 200 nature reserves sits at the heart of our world leading science and conservation delivery. Nature is in crisis, but together we can save it.

[2] Birds of Conservation Concern is commonly referred to as the UK Red List for birds. It includes the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man. The latest review was published in December 2021, as Birds of Conservation Concern 5 (BOCC5).

[3] Source: Whinchat abundance has declined by 60% in the UK between 1995 and 2022 Source: BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey. The British Trust for Ornithology co-ordinates the Breeding Bird Survey, the main scheme for monitoring the population changes of the UK's common and widespread breeding birds.