§ Mr. OnslowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what further studies he has made, since 1985, of the increase in the number of magpies in England and Wales, and the effect of this on the songbird population, particularly in the south of England; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe Nature Conservancy Council has supplied information on the magpie population from the results of the common bird census 647W carried out annually by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). The NCC advise that magpie numbers in parts of southern England have increased markedly in recent years. Present evidence, pending the outcome of further studies, is that predation by magpies is only one of a number of complex factors affecting the population of small birds.
I understand that a research project by the BTO and the university of Sheffield, sponsored by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, will commence shortly to assess the effect of magpies on songbird populations. The Game Conservancy has a study under way of magpie predation of gamebirds.