The Wild Bird Indicators are part of the government’s annually reported suite of biodiversity indicators. They report on how the UK’s bird populations, overall and in different habitats, have fared over many decades of bird monitoring.

Overview
The Wild Bird Indicators are part of the government’s suite of biodiversity indicators, alongside indicators related to measures of habitat condition, air pollution, river water quality, extent of protected areas, spread of non-native species as well as the state of butterflies and other wildlife. The indicators are produced annually for Defra and NatureScot by BTO, together with RSPB and JNCC.
- The Wild Bird Indicator is an accredited Government Official Statistic, and further information on its construction and how it is developed can be found on the government website.
The Wild Bird Indicators are based on population trends of bird species that are native to, and breed or spend the winter in, the UK. These population trends are calculated largely using data that is collected by volunteers, as part of national bird monitoring schemes like the BTO/RSPB/JNCC Wetland Bird Survey and the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey. The indicators therefore link the efforts of our dedicated volunteers directly to a policy-relevant assessment of the state of nature.
The indicators group breeding birds by habitat: farmland, woodland, uplands, waterways and wetlands, and marine and coastal areas, and most are based on datasets that stretch as far back as 1970. This means that indicators are a useful tool for examining how birds associated with different landscapes have fared over many decades. The indicators also report on the state of our internationally important wintering (i.e. non-breeding) wetland and coastal birds.
Understanding graphs and indices
Latest updates
The latest updates of the UK and England bird indicators based on the population trends of wild bird species were published on 7 November 2023. They report on the population trends of birds over the long term (in most cases, since 1970) and the most recent short-term period (in this case 2017–22).
Read a summary of the latest updates to each indicator:
- Indicator for all breeding bird species
- Farmland bird indicator
- Woodland bird indicator
- Wetlands and waterways indicator
- Upland bird indicator
- Seabird indicator
- Wintering waterbird indicator
You can also view the full details on the Defra website:
- Indicators for the UK and England 2024
About the Wild Bird Indicators
Why are the indicators important?
Measures related to changes in species abundance will be used, here and as part of other indicators, to track the government’s progress towards meeting the statutory target of halting the decline in species abundance by 2030, and then reversing these declines by 2042. Both the farmland and woodland indicators have also been used in different sectors as measures of progress towards sustainable agriculture and sustainable forestry, respectively.
Who produces the indicators?
The UK and England indicators are produced annually for Defra and the Scottish indicators for NatureScot. Both sets are produced by BTO and rely on the annual updated population trends from a suite of bird monitoring schemes coordinated by BTO in partnership with RSPB and JNCC. The indicators therefore link the efforts of our dedicated volunteers directly to a policy-relevant assessment of the state of nature.
- Indicators for the UK and England are produced jointly by BTO and RSPB for Defra.
- The Scottish indicators are produced by BTO for NatureScot.
How are the indicators developed?
To provide an overview of how birds are faring in each habitat, researchers from BTO and RSPB combine the population trends of breeding birds associated with each habitat to create ‘multi-species indicators’ – an aggregate which ‘indicates’, on average, how birds in that habitat are faring. Each indicator is then assessed over the long term and the short term to examine how bird populations have changed over time.
Researchers can also divide the data for each indicator more finely to provide more detailed insight into different groups of birds. For example, the wetlands and waterways indicator combines the population trends of all the native breeding bird species associated with those habitats in the UK, but it can also be broken down to examine the population trends of birds associated with slow-flowing and standing water, reedbeds, fast-flowing water or wet grasslands.
Learn more about how the indicators are developed on the Defra website: