If you look at the previous starling accounts in the avifauna, you’ll see that the 1984-88 atlas showed them to be breeding in 40% of the tetrads (2x2km squares) across the county. By the 2003-07 atlas, that had declined to just under 12%. But what is the situation now?
This map shows where starlings have been recorded in April-June 2011-2020 according to records in BirdTrack. The bright red squares indicate that the observer recorded definite evidence of breeding – nests, birds carrying food, recently fledged youngsters (being fed), for example.
We would like to update this map. The easiest way to do this, is for everyone to note where they see starlings in April and May, and add those records to BirdTrack. In BirdTrack you can pinpoint a location on a map or aerial photo. Then when entering details, click on the ‘highest breeding evidence’ box and select the appropriate code. If you really don't want to use Birdtrack, try the WWBIC app (local record centre).
More details of how to do this are on the avifauna.
So far, we've added two squares to the map. We'll update the map in early June, and again later in the year as appropriate.