Biotechnology

Cuckoo included in latest list of Britain’s endangered birds

(TELEGRAPH) - The unmistakable two-note call, described by Wordsworth as a ‘wandering voice’, is a traditional harbinger of Spring.

But according to the latest assessment of Britain’s 246 native birds by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the cuckoo is one of 52 species now considered to be in danger of dying out. Other common birds to join the “red list” include the lapwing, tree pipit, wood warbler, yellow wagtail and herring gull.

The number of birds considered to be most endangered has risen from 40 at the last assessment in 2002 to almost one in five species, including garden favourites in drastic decline such as the song thrush, house sparrow and starling.

Conservationists blamed the “scandalous” fall in birds of the British countryside on loss of habitat caused by intensive farming techniques, climate change and development.

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