Topic summary
RSPB
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Big Garden Birdwatch
RSPB organises bird record data collection in annual collective birdwatching days in Britain. The RSPB describes this as the "world's biggest wildlife survey" and helps inform conservationists to gain a better knowledge on bird population trends in gardens in Britain. The Big Garden Birdwatch was launched as a children's activity in 1979, but from 2001 it has also encouraged adults to take part. In 2011, over 600,000 people took part, only 37% of whom were RSPB members. This event usually takes place in the last weekend of January. From the start of this annual survey records for house sparrows showed a decline of 60%, while starling populations declined by about 80% from 1979 to 2012.