Every year, the RSPB publishes the results of its annual Big Garden Birdwatch survey, which is held in January. This year shows the highest number of sightings of the garden goldfinch (picture courtesy of the RSPB) in five years and the RSPB believes this is due to our milder winters in recent years. The goldfinch made it into the top 10 most common birds for the first time.

However, overall sightings of birds in general has dropped by 20% since 2004. The survey has been running for 29 years and in that time, the RSPB has seen the numbers of many common species dropping drastically, such as the common house sparrow, whose numbers have declined by about 64% and the starling, whose numbers have decreased by about 77%. Similarly, the number of blackbirds decreased by 39% and chaffinch figures by 28%.

In contrast, the milder weather is agreeing with some birds who are sticking around for the winter and their numbers are increasing. These include the woodpigeon with an increase of 665% since the RSPB survey began in 1979, and the dovecollar, whose numbers increased by 411%.