BIRDS COUNT AT SCHOOLS
The RSPB’s Big Schools’ Birdwatch 2008 results announced

School children have revealed that the starling is the most common bird in school grounds across the UK.

The RSPB’s 2008 Big Schools’ Birdwatch results show an average of 5.05 starlings were seen in school grounds. The black-headed gull and the blackbird, which complete the top three, flew in at an average of 4.65 and 4.29 per school respectively.

A record 1,500 schools took part in the survey, involving more than 48,000 children and teachers. A total of 64,427 birds were counted during the birdwatch, which took place from 21 January to 1 February.

Laura Osborne, RSPB Big Schools’ Birdwatch manager, said: “There has been a fantastic response to this year’s birdwatch. The Big Schools’ Birdwatch is where your school counts… You count all the birds you see, and the RSPB counts your results in its UK-wide survey of birds.”

School grounds provide excellent habitats for a range of different birds and other wildlife, hence more birds are visiting every year. Starlings, for example, like to stay together in groups. They enjoy foraging for food on hard surfaces, like playgrounds. The black-headed gull hardly ever appears in gardens. They like to feed in groups, on big, damp grassy areas like school fields where they find lots of worms to eat. The black-headed gull was nearly 100 times more common at schools than in gardens this year.

The Big Schools Birdwatch is suitable for children of all ages and is a great introduction to the wildlife that shares their space at school. Experiencing nature first hand is a vital part of a child’s education, and offers many varied benefits to them, not least developing a sense of wonder and curiosity for the world around them.

Laura added: “There is so much for children to gain by watching how birds hop, swoop, waddle and fly, how they crack open seeds or tackle a worm, and looking at the differences in colour and shape and perhaps even noticing the differences in their songs. The Big Schools' Birdwatch is about engaging with wild birds and having fun.”

The survey, now in its sixth year, helps to build a picture of birds visiting school grounds. With a host of curriculum-linked learning that can flow from it, some schools make the activity the centrepiece of a whole week devoted to wild birds.

The full UK-wide Big Schools’ Birdwatch results are available on the RSPB website. Visit www.rspb.org.uk/schoolswatch

1) The table shows the average number of the top 10 species of birds recorded per school across the UK in 2008 and compares this with the results from the 2007 survey.

2) The Big Schools’ Birdwatch is the schools’ version of the long-running RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. The Big Garden Birdwatch, now in its 29th year, aims to find out which birds are the most common visitors to UK gardens in winter. The results of the 2008 Big Garden Birdwatch will be available from Wednesday 26 March.

3) BBC Breathing Places Schools provides an ideal way to take a school’s interest in nature forward. Once a school has registered they will receive six Do One Thing activities, one per term over two years, which will get children outside, having fun while they learn and creating a Breathing Place for nature in their school grounds. The Do One Thing activities have been designed to allow any school and any teacher to take part no matter where they are or how much experience they have. Everything they need to create their Breathing Place will be provided free. For further information, visit: www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/teaching/breathingplacesschools

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