Twite All Right At Dove Holes

Good news for our Twites at Dove Holes is that three juveniles have been spotted by the RSPB bird surveyor, George Hudson. This is great news and shows that these tiny birds are breeding on site.

The twite is rare and "Red-listed" because of a long-term decline in its breeding population. More recently, there has been a substantial decline in range in the south Pennines (81 per cent between 1990 and 2004-5), while there is some evidence of a contraction in range in Scotland.

Causes of the decline are unknown, but they are likely to include losses of summer and winter food supplies, and suitable nesting habitat. In the south Pennines, RSPB and Natural England are undertaking a recovery project to halt and reverse the population decline of this charismatic little finch.