This year’s Big Garden Birdwatch was the biggest Birdwatch ever, with more than 17 million birds counted and over a million people taking part across the UK.

In Scotland 78,066 people took part  more than double the number of people that took part in 2020, and together they counted 1,527,163 birds.

In the UK the top spot for 2021 goes to the house sparrow. It’s the 18th year running that this plucky little bird has taken the Birdwatch crown.

Blackbirds and robins have also done well this year, both moving up the table and coming in at 4th and 6th place respectively. Meanwhile, finch numbers have continued to fall, with greenfinches and chaffinches recording their lowest numbers ever.

The Scotland results vary slightly with the coal tit and chaffinch making it onto the Top Ten instead of the magpie and long tailed tit across the UK.

This year’s Birdwatch saw record numbers of people enjoying nature and counting the birds. But while this may have been a bumper year for Big Garden Birdwatchers, we’re not living through a bumper time for birds. The sad truth is that there are actually far fewer birds around.