The clue is in the poo! Secrets to boosting the recovery of at risk pied flycatcher could be revealed in new research into bird droppings and choice of nest location - National Trust

Academics from Liverpool John Moores University, along with rangers and volunteers from the National Trust, are working together to explore what factors make pied flycatchers, a fly eating bird slightly smaller than a house sparrow and on the amber list of conservation concern, decide where to nest on the Longshaw Estate in the Peak District. The study will also provide data to uncover how these birds are adapting in an ever-changing world.

The project which featured on last night’s Springwatch on BBC2 and iPlayer, named “Should I stay, or should I go?” will see researchers analyse bird poo and data about microhabitat differences around nest boxes to help ornithologists and conservationists understand more about what gives these fascinating birds, whose numbers are in decline in the UK but doing well at Longshaw, the best chance of breeding success.

The National Trust has been working on a pied flycatcher nesting conservation project at Longshaw since 2014 following population declines across the UK.

A summer migrant to the UK, this small bird flies thousands of miles from its African wintering grounds to breed in the UK. Whilst the mature oakwoods of Wales are a stronghold for this characteristic bird, the Longshaw estate is an important study site on the eastern edge of its distribution. And, despite the bird suffering severe population declines around the millennium, their population has stabilised thanks to conservation efforts like the nestbox project at Longshaw.

Mark Bull, the National Trust ranger who has been working on the pied flycatcher nest box project at Longshaw since it began explained: “There is a real sense of excitement when we see the first pied flycatchers arrive at Longshaw in the spring. Our management of the woodlands provide a great habitat for this declining bird species to thrive in. A dedicated team of volunteers and rangers put a lot of time and effort into monitoring the nest boxes in these woodlands that is core to the research. Whilst birds will nest in natural holes in trees like the oaks in our managed woodlands our nest boxes provide extra nesting opportunity for this scarce species and is core to researching the conservation needs of this species.”