Dartford warblers make impressive comeback as they reach highest ever numbers on RSPB nature reserves

Dartford warblers make impressive comeback as they reach highest ever numbers on RSPB nature reserves - RSPB

A Dartford warbler perches on heathland at RSPB Arne, Dorset. Credit: Ben Hall, rspb-images.com

The highest ever total number of Dartford warblers (183 pairs) have been found on RSPB nature reserves, the recently launched RSPB’s Ecology Report has revealed, bouncing back from near extinction in the 1960s.

The amber listed bird previously suffered from a population crash in the 1960s, leaving just a few pairs in Dorset and the species on the brink of extinction here in the UK.

Thanks to their comeback they can now be spotted on heathland sites including RSPB Minsmere in Suffolk and RSPB Arne in Dorset.

Dartford warblers have made an impressive comeback, the recently launched RSPB Ecology Report has revealed, as the highest ever number of the birds found on RSPB nature reserves has been recorded.

The lowland heathland dwelling bird, which relies on the habitat’s dense gorse, is particularly sensitive to cold weather and has previously suffered as a result of harsh winters. Dwindling down to just a handful of pairs in Dorset during a population crash in the 1960s, Dartford warblers were at real risk of extinction from the UK just 60 years ago. However, thanks to concerted conservation efforts to create and restore heathland, and a series of milder winters, the bird fared well on the RSPB’s nature reserves in 2021, with numbers totalling 183 pairs.

Notable numbers of the birds were found at RSPB Minsmere on the Suffolk coast, which celebrated its 75th anniversary as an RSPB nature reserve last week. Increasing from 2019’s survey results, which found 23 pairs on the nature reserve, 2021’s surveys counted an impressive 37 pairs of Dartford warblers calling RSPB Minsmere home.

Mel Kemp, the warden at RSPB Minsmere, oversaw the heathland restoration at the site, including across 17 hectares of ex-coniferous plantation, and is delighted with the outcome: “We have seen a steady increase in the number of Dartford warblers, alongside other species relying on heathland habitats such as nightjar. All the hard work of restoring this habitat has really paid off.”