Rare breeding birds continue to colonise the UK - JNCC

A new report, published today, reveals an almost record-breaking number of rare birds bred, or attempted to breed, in the UK in 2022.

The latest annual report of the Rare Breeding Birds Panel (RBBP) (Rare Breeding Birds in the UK in 2022), funded by JNCC, RSPB and BTO and published in the journal British Birds, aims to track the progress of the UK’s rarest breeding birds by compiling data from conservationists, scientists, and thousands of volunteer birdwatchers.

The latest report reveals that 107 species and races of rare native birds were reported breeding, or attempting to breed, in the UK in 2022; this is the second-highest total since the Panel began reporting in 1973, and suggests a continuation of the increasing trend in the number of rare breeding bird species in the UK, largely driven by the arrival of colonising species. This included the first confirmed breeding by Glossy Ibis, with a pair raising one chick at a wetland site in Cambridgeshire. This elegant wading bird was once only found on Mediterranean coasts in Europe but has been moving northwards in recent decades.

As well as this newly arrived species, other recent colonists are prospering. Of the 14 colonists and reintroduced species to have established new populations in the UK since the RBBP began reporting in 1973, five – Mediterranean Gull, White-tailed Eagle, Eurasian Spoonbill, Little Egret and Great White Egret – reached record levels in 2022.

Most of these species are expanding their ranges into the UK from the south, and more appear to be on the way. Black-winged Stilts bred for the ninth successive year, with pairs in Norfolk and Yorkshire both rearing four young each. Two pairs of Bee-eaters fledged four young at Trimingham in Norfolk, to the delight of thousands of visiting birdwatchers and wildlife enthusiasts – this was the fourth breeding attempt in the UK by this multi-coloured migrant in the last decade.