This tiny bird is unique to our region - and in danger of going extinct
23.01.2022 - 15:35
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
In bracken beds on the edge of moorland, the twite's nests, lined with sheep's wool, resemble Kinder eggs.
Dark brown with a mustard face, at a glance it looks like a smaller sparrow.
But its beautiful song is in danger of being silenced forever.
The numbers of twite, known as the "Pennine finch" have plunged dramatically in recent years.
The tiny bird's very choosy diet is the root cause, and possibly moorland fires.
The twite is one of a couple of songbirds to feed exclusively on seeds, the other being the linnet.
Hay meadows in the uplands are diminishing and so too is common sorrel, the seeds of which, feed the twite's chicks.
Seeds from dandelions, autumn hawkbit, and thistle are also its preference.
During the breeding season twite are now confined to colonies within the newly created South Pennine Park, which includes the northern edge of Greater Manchester on moorland in Rochdale, Bolton, and Bury.
It has bred in the uplands of Britain for at least eight thousand years.
However, over the last 14 years, numbers have nosedived by over 90% in England.
Monitoring in 2021 estimated only 12 breeding pairs across 18 monitoring sites, in the South Pennines, a 75% reduction in the number of breeding pairs since 2016.
Usually they would raise a second brood of chicks in August but this is no longer happening - possibly due to there not being enough seed.
Huge moorland fires in recent years have reduced the number of potential nesting.
There are three sites that the RSBB monitor in Rochdale. One of these - the Blackstone Edge area above Littleborough - had a couple of breeding pairs last year.
The other two sites were breeding sites in the past, but no twite were there last year.
Now the Twite Recovery Project is working