Rarities & Conservation: A Summer That Gave Songbirds a Second Chance

7 January 2026
By James Hamilton

Whitethroat by Amy Lewis / BTO

After the sodden disappointment of 2024, the spring and summer of 2025 felt like a gift, not just to birdwatchers but to the birds themselves. Warm days, long spells of sunshine, and fewer relentless downpours created near-perfect conditions for nesting, and across the UK the results have been quietly remarkable.

Scientists from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) are reporting that many of our resident and migratory songbirds enjoyed a highly successful breeding season in 2025. For species that struggled badly the previous year, this surge in newly fledged young comes as very welcome news.

The contrast with 2024 could hardly have been sharper. That summer’s extreme rainfall meant many chicks never made it out of the nest, while others perished soon after fledging, unable to cope with cold, wet conditions or find enough food. That lost generation left its mark. During 2025, adult numbers were lower than average for several familiar garden birds, including Blue Tit and Great Tit, as well as long-distance migrants such as Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler and Whitethroat.

Throughout last year's summer, trained volunteer bird ringers visited Constant Effort Sites (CES) across the UK, carefully monitoring 29 species of songbird. This long-running scheme, which began in 1983, follows the same methods at the same sites year after year. This consistency allows scientists to track subtle changes in bird populations over decades. Similar projects across Europe help build an understanding of population trends on a continental scale.

In 2025, the data revealed encouraging signs. The breeding success of 14 species was higher than average, largely thanks to the mild weather. Chicks were better fed, better insulated, and more likely to survive those vulnerable first weeks of life.

That is why projects such as the CES scheme matter so much. They do not just tell us how birds are doing now. They help us understand what lies ahead, and why sustained monitoring over decades is essential.

Dr Ellie Leech, Head of the Ringing Scheme, said “Thanks to the fantastic efforts of BTO bird ringers, we know that the breeding success of 14 species was higher than average in 2025, in large part due to the mild weather."

She added, “This is welcome news, but the contrast between the sunny summer of 2025 and the continual downpours of 2024, could not be more stark, and shows just how important the weather can be; this is particularly for young birds that are less well insulated and less experienced at finding food in difficult conditions. Several of the species monitored on CES sites, such as Willow Warbler and Garden Warbler, are exhibiting long term declines, and if, as projected, climatic change brings an increase in unsettled weather conditions, this could make matters worse. This is why it is so important to keep projects like CES going for the next 40 years and beyond.”

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