RSPB talking ‘nonsense’ on kestrels - CLA

The comment came following the publication of the latest Breeding Birds Survey was published by the British Trust of Ornithology (BTO) showed Kestrel numbers had dropped 36 per cent in just 12 months.

The drop was blamed on ‘intensive farming’ and ‘pesticides and cold winters’ by the RSPB in an interview with a national newspaper.

The CLA said the criticism from the RSPB was ‘nonsense’.

CLA president William Worsley said: “The BTO report states that the kestrel population has only declined recently. It was stable between the start of the survey in 1994 until around 2005.

“It is clearly not the case that farming has become more intensive in the past five years. In fact, with the introduction of the Single Payment Scheme, the opposite is the case, and 70 percent of farmland in England is covered by agri-environment schemes.

“So it is nonsense for the RSPB to blame intensification for the problem. It is a pity they have once again gone for the knee-jerk reaction rather than look at the real reasons.”

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