Glasgow Crest: The Bird That Never Flew

Bird on top of street sign. Source: Ma Ti on Unsplash

By Acacia O’Donnell

With COP26 taking over Glasgow this month, wildlife conservation groups such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) are hoping to see policy makers such as Boris Johnson promise to implement policies that will help them to carry out their work and tackle the rapidly worsening climate crisis. Scott Shanks, a conservation officer working for RSPB, said: “We are undergoing a twin crisis with both nature and climate and there is more and more evidence of this on our doorsteps.

“Species such as the Black Caps are, instead of migrating to Africa and southern Europe coming into Scottish gardens, particularly in Glasgow during milder winters and 20-30 years ago we wouldn’t have seen that.” Scott went on to explain that Taiga Bean Geese that usually migrate to RSPB conservation areas such as Strumpshaw Fen are staying in Scandinavia causing their numbers in Scotland to drastically dwindle to as low as 7 during the 2019-2020 peak count.

Scott explained that “The most recent Scottish Biodiversity indicator assessment has shown a 49% decline in 11 key species of breeding seabirds, this could be due to changes in sea temperature having an impact on phytoplankton composition that build up the marine ecosystem.

“This is affecting the fish which is having an impact on the birds.

“In September there were lots of birds washing up on the shore on the east coast of Scotland which usually only happens after a storm event but there haven’t been any storms so we have been trying to figure out what is going on.”

Scott explained that plant species such as Rhododendron and Tree Mallow spreading on reserves and non native forestry plantations are contributing to the dwindling number of birds in Scotland’s rainforests and peatlands.

Scott went on to say that 2021 is a very important year for the RSPB as it is the 100th anniversary of the introduction of the Plumage Act, which is one of the very first victories that RSPB achieved and that this year they plan to deliver greater scale conservation efforts, enable more people to volunteer and help out and further their marketing in order to be more relevant to the world.