nightingales threat of extinction in uk

[robert382]

thank you everybody for commenting on this thread, and of course I can understand few have an answer to this topic. However if the Nightingale is on the northern limit of the European range, how is it that with global warming , the Nightingale is not yet extending its range northwards, and even perhaps to the Irish Republic eventually.
It does seem to me that despite what the RSPB says, England in particular is on a knife edge of species decline, and that worries me for the future with an increase in population and housing. where will it all end ?.

[Digit]

Apparently a lot of it is down to Deer over grazing with other birds with similar nesting requirements also affected, hence the cull.

Roy.

[barontan2418]

I visited Thorne moor this week mainly to view Hobbies, several years ago it would have also been to listen for Nightingales. Sadly the Nightingale population has declined no-end. Why? well the habitat has not changed to any great degree but the birds just don't arrive. It appears to me that the problem could be outside of the UK.

Mick
Leeds.

[Ferret]

Hi Robert
I was one of the viewers who did not post a reply, I think mostly down to lack of time and the feeling that I am not qualified to answer. saying that I do have a few thoughts about the decline of some of our birds the Nightingale included, there still seems to be, at least in my area, a lot of small woods, hedgerows and scrubby areas along with good field margins and uncultivated field headlands but they do not seem to hold the numbers of species or the density that I remember from my teenage years 40 odd years ago, so personally I do not think habitat loss is anything like the whole picture.
So what is well the other thing I see less of is insects and I do not mean just a vague idea that there a fewer about, they are conspicuous by there absence, the heads of Umbellifers used to be covered in beetles, flies, moths and butterflies, these days there does not seem to be the numbers or variety on these flower heads that there used to be, any Buddleia or Michaelmas Daisy in the garden would be smothered with Butterflies of several species and other insects whenever the sun was shining in fact you hardly ever saw them without any Butterflies on them even on cool days, last year the two large Buddleias in my Mothers garden, which were covered in flower, rarely had any Butterflies on them. My brothers and I would get told of for leaving the back door open and the kitchen light on on summer evenings as if left even for a short time the kitchen would have several large Moths orbiting the light and the ceiling would be covered with small Flies, Moths, Midges, Gnats and Flies, do the same today and there is hardly an Insect to be seen. even the common House Fly no longer meander below the central light fitting as they used to do, there was always half a dozen when I was young I hardly ever see one now. At a guess I would say there is hardly a ¼ of the Insects I used to see, well most of the birds that are declining ether feed themselves or there young on Insects so it stands to reason less food less birds.
As to why the drastic decline, well I’m not sure I know, is it insectorsides, is it air pollution are our crop fields to clean now (no weeds) I don’t know but personally I think this is the most important area of conservation that we need to tackle as anything we do to increase suitable habitat is a waste of time if the Birds have no food.
On visits to my Son in Provence in the south or France I am amazed by the variety and density of Insect life and plenty of birds as well, on a visit to Bulgaria six years ago a walk threw a riverside meadow would have a cloud of Grasshoppers and Crickets jumping and flying ahead of you, I don’t see that here now, but I used to. So I am not surprised that there is not the same decline in Southern an Eastern Europe.
Well I think that’s enough for now, I would be interested in other peoples thoughts.
Ferret