Listing Category
Description
Avians have had another record year with 228 flowering males counted in 2021. This is an increase from 209 in 2019, according to new poll results from the RSPB and Natural England (2020 registrations impacted by the coronavirus pandemic).
This member of the stork family became extinct in England in 1870 due to a combination of overhunting for food and draining of wetlands for agriculture. Bitterns returned to England in the early 20th century and restoration of the wetlands allowed their numbers to more than double within a decade, with more than half remaining in the RSPB reserves.