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Episode 05815th October 202601:14:49
How Climate Change Is Reshaping the UK's Birds, With the RSPB and BTO
When James Pearce-Higgins was a boy in Suffolk, the cascading song of the willow warbler meant Easter was on its way. He lives back in Suffolk now, and this summer he heard two. A few weeks later he was in Scotland, and they were everywhere. That is climate change in one bird, and it runs throug...
Episode 058
How Climate Change Is Reshaping the UK's Birds, With the RSPB and BTO
Welcome to episode 58
Chapters:33•Welcome to episode 58
0:000:00
About This Episode
When James Pearce-Higgins was a boy in Suffolk, the cascading song of the willow warbler meant Easter was on its way. He lives back in Suffolk now, and this summer he heard two. A few weeks later he was in Scotland, and they were everywhere.
That is climate change in one bird, and it runs through this whole episode. Professor James Pearce-Higgins, Director of Science at the BTO, and Bethany Chamberlain, who works on climate change adaptation policy at the RSPB, join Chloe and Tom to unpack Climate change and the UK's birds, the joint RSPB and BTO report published in July. James brings the science. Species that do better in the warmth have increased by around 20 to 25% over the last 25 years or so, while those that struggle in the heat, many seabirds and upland species among them, have fallen by around 30%. Beth brings the policy: what government, landowners and the rest of us actually have to do about it.
The winners are not the good news they look like. Cetti's warbler, Dartford warbler and great white egret are spreading north partly because their Mediterranean strongholds are getting too hot and dry. Golden plover lose the crane fly larvae their chicks depend on when drained peatlands dry out. Some seabird populations are projected to fall by more than 70% by 2050 under a high emissions scenario without conservation action. And the predictions made twenty years ago are now coming true, some faster than expected: the zitting cisticola the models said would colonise bred in Britain for the first time, at Walberswick in Suffolk, in 2025.
Then the harder questions. What happens to a protected site when the bird it was designated for moves north? How do you build offshore wind without harming the seabirds it is meant to protect? What would each of them ask a minister for? And are bird feeders actually good for birds? The RSPB changed its advice this year, and the honest answer is that it depends on what you put out, when, and how clean you keep it.
After the interview, Chloe and Tom reflect on the 24 house martin nests on the house and why the species that cannot move worry Chloe more than the birds that can. Then the project update: around 75 leaky woody dams and a set of stepped ponds built with Tom Johnstone of We Are Nature Based, local wildflower seed sown by Youngwilders, and the first findings from the Wilder Connections summer pilot with nearly 200 young people.
Coming up in the update: stepped ponds, wildflower seed and nearly 200 young people
The Wilder Supper Club, Saturday 14 November
Introducing James Pearce-Higgins (BTO) and Bethany Chamberlain (RSPB)
The report: who wrote it and what it is for
Why birds? The yellowhammer on the hedge
Tens of thousands of volunteers, and Bird Atlas 2027-31
The headline findings: winners up, losers down by around 30%
Who the report was written for
The willow warbler: a personal story of decline
If birds just move north, what is the problem?
Homogenisation, and seabirds projected to fall by more than 70%
The "winners": Cetti's warbler, Dartford warbler and great white egret
Predictions versus reality: dotterel and the zitting cisticola
What moved faster than expected: migrants, the Sahel and the cuckoo
Earthworms, thrushes and golden plover on drying peat
What can be done? Policy makers, landowners and individuals
Protected areas and the Welsh black grouse recovery
Advice for landowners: climate and nature-friendly farming
Protected sites when the species move on
What else helps seabirds: biosecurity, bycatch and siting wind farms
"We can't adapt our way out of this": mitigation and adaptation together
What has happened since the report came out in July
One ask of a minister each: strategic decisions and long-term funding for nature
Offshore wind and seabirds: what the evidence says
How listeners can help
Bird feeders: good or bad?
Chloe and Tom reflect: house martins and the species that cannot move
Bird feeders, revisited
Project update: leaky woody dams and stepped ponds
Youngwilders sow local wildflower seed
Wilder Connections: what nearly 200 young people told us
Wrapping up
Bethany Chamberlain works on policy at the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), specialising in climate change adaptation: what a changing climate will do to nature and to us, and how we respond.
Facts and figures mentioned:
Related Wilder Podcast episodes:
Come and eat with us:The Wilder Supper Club: Autumn is on Saturday 14 November. A dusk walk across the project with Chloe, a welcome drink and a three-course sharing dinner cooked by chef Jane Alty, for twenty-five people at two long tables. £65 per person. Book here: https://grangeproject.co.uk/events/wilder-supper-club
That is climate change in one bird, and it runs through this whole episode. Professor James Pearce-Higgins, Director of Science at the BTO, and Bethany Chamberlain, who works on climate change adaptation policy at the RSPB, join Chloe and Tom to unpack Climate change and the UK's birds, the joint RSPB and BTO report published in July. James brings the science. Species that do better in the warmth have increased by around 20 to 25% over the last 25 years or so, while those that struggle in the heat, many seabirds and upland species among them, have fallen by around 30%. Beth brings the policy: what government, landowners and the rest of us actually have to do about it.
The winners are not the good news they look like. Cetti's warbler, Dartford warbler and great white egret are spreading north partly because their Mediterranean strongholds are getting too hot and dry. Golden plover lose the crane fly larvae their chicks depend on when drained peatlands dry out. Some seabird populations are projected to fall by more than 70% by 2050 under a high emissions scenario without conservation action. And the predictions made twenty years ago are now coming true, some faster than expected: the zitting cisticola the models said would colonise bred in Britain for the first time, at Walberswick in Suffolk, in 2025.
Then the harder questions. What happens to a protected site when the bird it was designated for moves north? How do you build offshore wind without harming the seabirds it is meant to protect? What would each of them ask a minister for? And are bird feeders actually good for birds? The RSPB changed its advice this year, and the honest answer is that it depends on what you put out, when, and how clean you keep it.
After the interview, Chloe and Tom reflect on the 24 house martin nests on the house and why the species that cannot move worry Chloe more than the birds that can. Then the project update: around 75 leaky woody dams and a set of stepped ponds built with Tom Johnstone of We Are Nature Based, local wildflower seed sown by Youngwilders, and the first findings from the Wilder Connections summer pilot with nearly 200 young people.
Chapters
Welcome to episode 58Coming up in the update: stepped ponds, wildflower seed and nearly 200 young people
The Wilder Supper Club, Saturday 14 November
Introducing James Pearce-Higgins (BTO) and Bethany Chamberlain (RSPB)
The report: who wrote it and what it is for
Why birds? The yellowhammer on the hedge
Tens of thousands of volunteers, and Bird Atlas 2027-31
The headline findings: winners up, losers down by around 30%
Who the report was written for
The willow warbler: a personal story of decline
If birds just move north, what is the problem?
Homogenisation, and seabirds projected to fall by more than 70%
The "winners": Cetti's warbler, Dartford warbler and great white egret
Predictions versus reality: dotterel and the zitting cisticola
What moved faster than expected: migrants, the Sahel and the cuckoo
Earthworms, thrushes and golden plover on drying peat
What can be done? Policy makers, landowners and individuals
Protected areas and the Welsh black grouse recovery
Advice for landowners: climate and nature-friendly farming
Protected sites when the species move on
What else helps seabirds: biosecurity, bycatch and siting wind farms
"We can't adapt our way out of this": mitigation and adaptation together
What has happened since the report came out in July
One ask of a minister each: strategic decisions and long-term funding for nature
Offshore wind and seabirds: what the evidence says
How listeners can help
Bird feeders: good or bad?
Chloe and Tom reflect: house martins and the species that cannot move
Bird feeders, revisited
Project update: leaky woody dams and stepped ponds
Youngwilders sow local wildflower seed
Wilder Connections: what nearly 200 young people told us
Wrapping up
About the guests
Professor James Pearce-Higgins is Director of Science at the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology), which works with volunteer birdwatchers to monitor the UK's birds. He has worked on the impacts of climate change on birds for over twenty years, began his research career studying golden plover, and is a co-author of the report. His BTO journey started as a schoolboy volunteer on the 1988-91 Atlas.Bethany Chamberlain works on policy at the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), specialising in climate change adaptation: what a changing climate will do to nature and to us, and how we respond.
- BTO:
- RSPB:
Facts and figures mentioned:
- The report: Mordue SM, Pearce-Higgins JW, Gregory-Manning S, Bradfer-Lawrence T (2026) Climate change and the UK's birds: impacts, risks, and conservation responses. RSPB and BTO, published 1 July 2026.
- Species that do better in warmer conditions have increased by around 20 to 25% on average over roughly 25 years. Species that do worse when it is warmer, including some seabirds and northern and upland species, have declined by around 30% (James, on air).
- Some seabird populations could decline by more than 70% by 2050 under a high emissions scenario without conservation measures (the report).
- Willow warbler numbers have fallen sharply in southern England over the last 20 to 25 years while increasing in Scotland. James puts the southern decline at around 70 to 80%.
- The zitting cisticola, once called the fan-tailed warbler, bred in Britain for the first time at Walberswick, Suffolk, in 2025.
- Around 3,500 volunteers take part in the BTO Breeding Bird Survey each year, and 40,000 to 50,000 people contributed records to the last Bird Atlas. The next, Bird Atlas 2027-31, starts in 2027.
- For every £1 invested in peatland restoration, the average expected return is £4.62 in quantified benefits (Cambridge Econometrics for the RSPB, 2020).
- Greenfinch numbers have fallen by more than 65% since the mid-1990s, with the disease trichomonosis, spread through shared food and water, a key driver. The RSPB's April 2026 advice: pause seed and peanuts from 1 May to 31 October, offer small amounts of suet or mealworms instead, clean feeders weekly, change water daily and retire flat feeders such as bird tables.
- On the Grange Project, the number of breeding bird species doubled between our 2024 and 2025 surveys, after we stopped cutting the grass and planted trees.
- Nearly 200 young people took part in the Wilder Connections summer pilot. After the two-night camp, 100% said they felt more committed to caring for nature.
Resources and links
mentioned:- Climate change and the UK's birds (RSPB and BTO report):
- BTO press release on the report:
- Bird Atlas 2027-31:
- BTO Garden BirdWatch:
- RSPB "Feed Seasonally. Feed Safely." guidance:
- RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch:
- Economic costs and benefits of nature-based solutions to mitigate climate change (Cambridge Econometrics for the RSPB):
- Zitting cisticola breeds in Britain for the first time (BirdGuides):
- Youngwilders:
- Gwent Wildlife Trust:
- Wilder Connections (sign up to the newsletter here):
- Wilder Supper Club, Saturday 14 November:
Related Wilder Podcast episodes:
- Ep. 056: Wildfires - What's Actually Burning, and What Can Be Done, for the peatland and wildfire side of this summer:
- Ep. 021: Save the Curlew, Save the World with Mary Colwell, on one of the waders James wants kept free of tree planting:
- Ep. 049: Regenerative Agriculture Changing How We Grow Food, for the nature-friendly farming Beth talks about:
Come and eat with us:The Wilder Supper Club: Autumn is on Saturday 14 November. A dusk walk across the project with Chloe, a welcome drink and a three-course sharing dinner cooked by chef Jane Alty, for twenty-five people at two long tables. £65 per person. Book here: https://grangeproject.co.uk/events/wilder-supper-club