The status of the Ring Ouzel Turdus Torquatus on the Grassington
and Conistone Moors in 2002
Colin Straker and Peter M. Wright
Background
Concern has been growing over recent years over the decline of the Ring Ouzel in the
United Kingdom. In 1999 the RSPB undertook a census of breeding Ring Ouzels
throughout the UK (Wotton et al. 1999) in order to determine the present status and
provide a base line against which future surveys could be compared.
At a meeting of the Ring Ouzel Study Group in February 2001 it was considered
important to to encourage further studies in new areas and that a high priority be
given to re-surveying Ian Appleyard’s study area. In 2002 the Yorkshire Dales
National Park Authority approached the authors to undertake a survey of the Ring
Ouzel in the south east area of the National Park around Grassington using as a basis
the work undertaken by Ian Appleyard (1984) in his long term study of the species in
this area of the Yorkshire Dales.
Method
Data on the nesting territories identified by Ian Appleyard in his study held by the
National Park Authority were used as a basis for the survey. In order to obtain better
coverage the study area was divided into two distinct areas, the lower valley between
Hebden and Yarnbury and the moors of Grassington and Conistone above Yarnbury.
During the course of the breeding season, between 22 March and 6 June 2002, each of
the territories was systematically searched on at least two occasions for a minimum of
an hour to record the presence or absence of territorial males. Presence of pairs and
confirmation of breeding was also recorded.
Results
29 territories were identified from Appleyard’s notes over the period 1979-92. Table 1
gives the number of occupied territories recorded in each of the 14 years.
Table 1. Number of occupied territories 1979-92
Year
79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92
Occupied Territories
5
3
1
4
5
7
14 15 15 17 11 15 14
8
Figure 1 shows the distribution of the twenty-nine territories used on one or more
occasions over the period 1979-92 and the additional territory occupied in 2002.
Twenty-one of these territories identified by Appleyard (green) were unoccupied in
2002. Eight territories occupied during the 2002 survey (red) had previously been
occupied during Appleyard’s study. One (yellow) was a new territory.
Figure 1. Distribution of territories
Appleyard’s sites not used in 2002
Appleyard’s sites used in 2002
New site recorded in 2002
71
70
69
68
67
66
65
64
01
02
03
04
Table 2 gives a breakdown of the type of site occupancy during the 2002 survey.
Table 2. Site occupancy during 2002
Site
1
Singing Males
Pairs present
Confirmed breeding
2
x
3
4
x
x
5
6
x
x
7
8
9
x
x
x
x
Discussion
In his book Appleyard (1994) comments on the status of the Ring Ouzel in the light of
the Atlas of Breeding Birds (Gibbons et al. 1988-91) in which the estimate of the
population in Britain was given as 5500-11,000. Appleyard considered the lower
figure to be the most likely as he felt the Ring Ouzel was now scarce and declining in
numbers. Certainly there was a decline in numbers recorded in Northern England over
the intervening years from the previous survey (Sharrock 1968-72).
The number of nesting pairs recorded by Appleyard overall in the years 1979-92 was
134 (mean 9.6, range 1-17). However over the 7 year period 1985-91 when it would
appear the bulk of his monitoring was undertaken, a total of 105 pairs were recorded
(mean 15.0, range 11-17). It would therefore appear to be more appropriate to
compare the results of the present survey with these latter figures.
The 2002 survey would appear to shows a marked decline in the number of occupied
territories compared to those of Appleyard but results must be viewed with some
caution. Only a constant monitoring of the population will provide a truer picture of
the situation.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all the landowners for their kind permission to allow us to
undertake the study, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority for making
available Ian Appleyard’s original material and in particular Ian Burfield for the work
he has undertaken in collating Ian Appleyard’s data, which proved invaluable both in
the field and in preparation of this paper.
References
Appleyard, I. 1994. Ring Ouzels of the Yorkshire Dales. W. S. Maney & Son, Leeds
Court, I. 2001. Birds of Conservation Concern in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
YDNPA
Gibbons, D.W., Reid, J. B. & Chapman, R. A. 1993. The New Atlas of Breeding
Birds in Britain and Ireland: 1988-1991. Poyser, London
Sharrock, J. T. R., 1976. The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland. Poyser,
Calton
Wotton, S. R., Langston, R. H. W. and Gregory, R. D. 2002. The Breeding Status
of the Ring Ouzel in the UK in 1999. Bird Study 49: 26-34