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Swans

Answer

Whooper swan numbers in the United Kingdom are counted each year as part of the Wetland Bird Survey organised by the British Trust for Ornithology, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Joint Nature Conservation Committee and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The latest counts, covering winter 2003-04, found a peak of 7,558 birds in January 2004. The wintering population in the UK has increased substantially during the past 20 years.Using the most recent five year averages, three sites in England support internationally important numbers of whooper swans (210 birds or more) and five sites support nationally important numbers (57 birds or more). These are listed in the following table:

Internationally important sites	Nationally important sites
Ouse washes, Cambridgeshire/Norfolk	Nene Washes, Cambridgeshire
Martin Mere and the Ribble Estuary, Lancashire	Caistron Quarry, Northumberland
The Solway Estuary, Cumbria	Lower Derwent Ings, North and East Yorkshire
	Warkworth Lane Ponds, Northumberland
	Lindisfarne, Northumberland

Whooper swans are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981), and are listed in Annex 1 of the EC wild birds directive ("the birds directive") which requires that special measures are taken to conserve their habitats. Seven sites in England have been designated as special protection areas under the birds directive for their wintering whooper swan populations.I am not aware of any road schemes that pose a threat to whooper swans at the sites which support significant concentrations of birds in England.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

119454; 457 c189W

Session

2006-07

Subjects

Conservation Nature conservation Swans

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk