Willow tits find refuge in former mining areas

Willow tits find refuge in former mining areas - UK Centre of Ecology & Hydrology

An endangered British songbird has found refuge in the former mining areas in northern England and could be thriving there due to the expanse of land available.

The willow tit is Britain's fastest declining resident bird species, with its numbers plummeting by 92% since the 1970s

New research has found that the willow tit - Britain's fastest declining resident bird species – needs seven hectares to thrive.

Once commonly seen from the south of England up to Central Scotland, its numbers have plummeted by 92% since the 1970s. Over the last 50 years, willow tits have retreated to a swathe of country in former coal mining areas from Cheshire to Northumberland.

For their numbers to recover, we need to know more about how much space willow tits need and what kind of habitat they thrive in.

Dr Richard Broughton, an ecologist with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, led a new study that examined why willow tits fare well in the sites. He said: “For me, the willow tits’ presence in these post industrial areas is almost a phoenix from the ashes story. They found a refuge, and we should help protect it.”

Over three years, Dr Broughton has worked with Marta Maziarz from the Polish Academy of Sciences and a local citizen scientist, Wayne Parry, to conduct surveys at former mining sites on the Wigan Flashes and Amberswood Common, which have been restored to wetlands, woodlands and greenspaces.

Mr Parry carried out the fieldwork, monitoring over 30 nests each year and catching and ringing the birds to monitor the number of pairs and their breeding success.

Dr Broughton said: “For the first time we’ve been able to calculate how much space a pair of willow tits needs: it’s around seven hectares, which is a big territory for small birds. They spend their entire lives there, so it needs to provide everything they need. While our study focused on Amberswood Common and the Wigan Flashes, this can be translated to the other areas with old coalfields where willow tits are found. We can use these results to understand how much space and habitat the Willow Tits need to survive. These areas might seem an unlikely haven for an endangered woodland bird, but as industrial activity declined, these huge areas rewilded. They’re covered with scrub, young woodland and marshy areas that the willow tits prefer. Brownfield sites have huge conservation value not just for willow tits, but a broad range of wildlife. It’s important we know their role so that it can be factored into environmental and planning policies.”

The research is available to read here.