§ Lord KILMANYasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they can give the figures on which the estimated number of crows was thought to have increased by an estimated 8 per cent. on farmland during the 1976–77 breeding season and whether the survey for 1977–78 suggests a similar increase in the number of these birds.
Earl FERRERSAccording to the British Trust for Ornithology, the estimated 8 per cent. increase in crows on farmland between 1976 and 1977 was arrived at by comparing the crow populations of a sample of selected sites throughout the United Kingdom. In 1977 a population of 252 crows was reported from 75 farmland study areas compared with 233 in 1976. I understand from the Trust that their 1978 survey, to be published in March, will show a 2 per cent. decrease in the farmland crow population. They have also indicated that their Populations Department would be pleased to discuss their findings with the noble Lord.