Numbers of breeding Pied Flycatchers boomed on RSPB nature reserves last year, thanks to targeted conservation work.
These insectivorous birds have declined in the UK, in part because of pressures encountered in their winter homes in West Africa and on migrations to and from spring breeding areas. Yet at Haweswater, the nature reserve in the Lake District managed by the RSPB in partnership with landowner United Utilities, 29 singing males were recorded in 2023, suggesting a total of 50–60 pairs – the highest number in 10 years. This follows dedicated habitat improvements including installing nest boxes and clearing dense growth from the woodland understorey to improve foraging for insect prey.
Male Pied Flycatcher. Photo: Wild Intrigue
Get up close to Pied Flycatchers. Video: the RSPB
Records were also broken at RSPB Coombes Valley and Consall Woods in Staffordshire, where 66 birds occupied nest boxes. RSPB staff and volunteers also undertake Flycatcher habitat improvement work at sites such as Lake Vyrnwy in Wales (where 97 pairs were recorded) and Wood of Cree in Scotland.
