Linnet Carduelis cannabina
Breeding distribution change
Seriously decreasing resident, also passage migrant and winter visitor
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Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2013
Atlas species lists
- Breeding distribution 1995–2000
- Summer abundance 1995–2000
- Winter distribution 1995–2000
- Winter abundance 1995–2000
- Breeding distribution 2007–2012
- Summer abundance 2007–2012
- Winter distribution 2007–2012
- Winter abundance 2007–2012
- Breeding distribution change
- Summer abundance change
- Winter distribution change
- Winter abundance change
More Linnet maps
- Breeding distribution 1995–2000
- Summer abundance 1995–2000
- Winter distribution 1995–2000
- Winter abundance 1995–2000
- Breeding distribution 2007–2012
- Summer abundance 2007–2012
- Winter distribution 2007–2012
- Winter abundance 2007–2012
- Breeding distribution change
- Summer abundance change
- Winter distribution change
- Winter abundance change
More maps for this atlas
Map explanation
This map shows where changes occurred in the breeding season distribution of the species in Wiltshire between 1995-2000 and 2007-2012, as revealed by the fieldwork for Birds of Wiltshire (Wiltshire Ornithological Society 2007) and the shared fieldwork for Bird Atlas 2007-2011 (BTO 2013) and for Wiltshire Tetrad Atlas 2007-2012.
Gains and improvements
Status
Nos tetrads
Absent to present
45
5%
Present to breeding
121
13%
Absent to breeding
45
5%
No change
Status
Nos tetrads
Present in both
94
10%
Breeding in both
258
28%
Losses and declines
Status
Nos tetrads
Present to absent
80
9%
Breeding to present
128
14%
Breeding to absent
95
10%
Linnets breed in the Canary Islands and Madeira and from Iberia and much of the Mediterranean region north to southern Fenno-Scandia and north-central Russia, and thence to west Siberia, central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan. The Fenno-Scandian and east European populations migrate in winter to the southern parts of the species's range. Some British breeding Linnets also migrate, to western France, Spain and North Africa.
In Britain in the breeding season Linnets are found virtually everywhere in England and Wales, but in Scotland only in lowland areas. In winter they also withdraw from the upland areas of northern England and Wales. This distribution pattern has changed little in the last fifty years, though populations have thinned out considerably. Numbers fell rapidly during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and in England this downward trend has continued. The 2019 BBS report recorded a 23% population decrease between 1995 and 2018. There was a similar decline in Wales, although in Scotland the decrease was only 6%.
In Wiltshire a mid-19th century recorder described Linnets as "extremely numerous throughout" but noted that the increasing conversion of undeveloped land where thistles and weeds flourished into agricultural fields was having a negative effect on Linnet populations - a process that was to prove increasingly significant throughout the 20th century. The introduction of a ban on the cage-bird trade in wild-caught finches in the early 20th century led to a temporary reduction in the rate of decline of Linnet numbers, but the loss of habitat continued to affect their population. Birds of Wiltshire recorded them in 776 tetrads, with breeding in 481. WTA2 recorded them in 691 with breeding in 424.
References
The following references are used throughout these species accounts, in the abbreviated form given in quotation marks:
“1968-72 Breeding Atlas” – Sharrack, J.T.R. 1976: The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A. Poyser
“1981-84 Winter Atlas” – Lack, P.C. 1986: The Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A. Poyser
“1988-91 Breeding Atlas” – Gibbons, D.W., Reid, J.B. & Chapman, R.A. 1993: The New Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland 1988-91. T. & A. Poyser
“Birds of Wiltshire” – Ferguson-Lees, I.J. et al. 2007 : Birds of Wiltshire, published by the tetrad atlas group of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society after mapping fieldwork 1995-2000. Wiltshire Ornithological Society.
“Bird Atlas 2007-2011” – Balmer, D.E., Gillings, S., Caffrey, B.J., Swann, R.L., Downie, I.S. and Fuller, R.J. 2013: Bird Atlas 2007-2011: the Breeding and Wintering Birds of Britain and Ireland
“WTA2” – ("Wiltshire Tetrad Atlas 2 ") the present electronic publication, bringing together the Wiltshire data from “Birds of Wiltshire” and “Bird Atlas 2007-11”, together with data from further fieldwork carried out in 2011 and 2012.
"Hobby" - the annual bird report of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society.