What has happened to the dawn chorus in the last 10 years?

17 comments

1. Too many domestic cats.

2. Always seemed to be more of a spring thing to me. By this time of year birds are happily married and bringing up their chicks.

3. They’re all over here, as soon as the sun rises. Not complaining.

4. In the spring & early summer, when the birds are all randy, then it’s deafening around here. Now the birds are all knackered then it’s much quieter, except for the bloody wood pigeons and magpies.

5. The UK has lost around a third of its wild birds in the last 50 years, since the 1970s.

   The main reason is changes in agricultural practices and land-use.

   The destruction of habitats, be it hedgerows surrounding fields or flower rich meadows, the increase in the use of harmful pesticides and shift in agricultural practices that has resulted in a lower diversity of plants being grown, have all played a role.

   Cats play a tiny, tiny role.

   There has been an increase in some species, such as wrens, wood pigeons and blackcaps.

   https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/wild-bird-populations-in-the-uk/wild-bird-populations-in-the-uk-1970-to-2021

6. In my sector about 6 million wood pigeons start cooking in unison directly above my head at about 6am, sexual noise overload every day but I really like it in a way.

7. https://cce.ucdavis.edu/news/how-your-pet-cat-could-be-disrupting-native-ecosystem

   Not really a myth, so don’t know how it has been busted. Many papers on the subject if you care to look

8. The birds have all done their “business” by August and chicks have or are fledging. Basically it’s job done.

9. I have definitely noticed this! When I was a young girl the birds singing was so loud and ubiquitous in the morning… now when I’m walking the dogs it is eerily silent.. even in the woods 🙁

10. Thanks I think we have the !answer.

11. Bugs and insects are in decline due to pesticides, so birds are down too because their prey is diminishing.

12. I get woken up by screaming seagulls these days. I have to go to Youtube if I want to hear the pretty birds singing. I’m out in the countryside as well…so sad.

13. I live on an estate in London that has been pedestrianised and banned weed killers and pesticides, it’s absolutely amazing, every morning I hear all the birds singing and crickets at night! There are lots of weeds about, but we’ll worth it for the nature this central in a city!

14. You can still hear them coughing softly in the trees, but the noise of the traffic masks it quite well.

15. Our wildlife is in dire straits and bird numbers are plummeting across the country. The decline in insect populations has hit many species particularly hard.

16. I live in Central Dundee with a shared garden to the rear. We call it a ‘backie’ round this way.

    I have Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Bluetits, Bullfinch, House Sparrows, Hedge Sparrows, Magpies, crows, Wood pigeons, Rock pigeons and Robins, today i saw the first 3 Starlings I’ve seen for a long time and that made me happy,

    I also have seagulls that do their best to drown out the birdsong but i do hear it and it seems to start earlier than it used to.

    Also have bats and foxes nearby that sometimes visit the garden.

    All this, less than a mile from the city centre.

17. My area in south London has loads of parakeets, so most of the bird noises I hear in the morning is their awful squawking. They look beautiful, but sound rubbish.

    There’s also loads of squirrels around, and they make a surprisingly loud racket doing their weird chirpy-bark thing.