Wryneck Jynx torquilla
Breeding distribution change
Rare passage migrant, winters Mediterranean/Africa
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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 Wryneck 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
3
<1%
Present to breeding
0
0%
Absent to breeding
0
0%
No change
Status
Nos tetrads
Present in both
0
0%
Breeding in both
0
0%
Losses and declines
Status
Nos tetrads
Present to absent
0
0%
Breeding to present
0
0%
Breeding to absent
0
0%
Wrynecks breed in northwest Africa, much of Europe (except the far north, the highest mountains and the extreme southeast), Siberia, central China and northern Japan. They are mostly migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa north of the equator and in southern India.
In Great Britain, they were apparently widespread nesters at the end of the 18th century as far north as northern England, but a hundred years later their range had contracted to south of the Humber and parts of Wales. The decline continued through the first two-thirds of the 20th century The 1968-72 Breeding Atlas showed that by then breeding Wrynecks were restricted in England to a scattering between Norfolk and Hampshire. By the time of the 1988-91 Breeding Atlas even these sites had been abandoned and the species is now only seen as passage migrants from continental Europe, mostly along the east and south coasts in autumn.
In Wiltshire by the mid 19th centuryWrynecks were mostly reduced to scarce passage migrants and very rare breeders, a situation that continued until the mid 20th century. The last known nest was found in an apple tree in West Dean in July 1950. Between then and the end of the century, passage migrants were recorded, mostly in autumn, in only 27 out of the 50 years, with an average of just under two individuals in each of those 27 years.In the years since the turn of the century however frequency and numbers have increased: between 2000 and 2016 there were only two years when there were no records at all. The average number of individuals in the 15 years when they were seen was 3.46.
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.