Habitat changes leave the twite living on a wing and prayer

EXPERTS expressed concern yesterday over the dramatic decline of a farmland bird from an important wintering spot in the north of Scotland.

Large numbers of twites have disappeared from Caithness and Sutherland.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has been shocked by surveys this winter which showed that only 300 twites have been found in the areas - a huge fall on a 1998 study which estimated the population to be close to 6,000.

Experts believe they may no longer be finding enough food to survive.

The overall UK twite population is estimated at around 10,000 breeding pairs, with 9,500 of those in Scotland.

They are found mainly in the crofting areas of Caithness, Sutherland, Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles, as well as northern England and north Wales. Caithness and Sutherland are particularly important areas for twites, as one-third of the UK population has previously wintered there.

Those that breed in the area are joined by twites coming in from Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

An RSPB spokeswoman said: "Some other flocks are found in Aberdeenshire and on the Moray coast, but not in such significant numbers as in Caithness and Sutherland, hence the level of concern that the survey this year is picking up such low numbers."

She said the birds bred in moorland in summer and gathered in large flocks over winter, in areas where they could find the fine seeds they required to survive. Historically, these have included grasses around costal dunes, machair and weedy turnip fields within cultivated areas.

Throughout the 1990s, stubbles such as oil-seed rape or linseed supported the birds as changing agricultural practices saw a decline in weedy turnips.

The RSPB spokeswoman added: "The survey may indicate that the birds are no longer finding the food source they require in Caithness and Sutherland."