UK BAP priority bird species

A list of the UK BAP priority bird species, and their occurence in the four UK countries is provided in the table below. In addition, the 'Original UK BAP species' column provides information on whether the species was on the original UK BAP list created between 1996 and 1998, or was added following the review of priority species and habitats (PDF, 1.3Mb) in 2007. All original species have Species action Plans (SAPs), species statements, or are included within grouped plans or statements, whereas there are, as yet, no published plans for the species added following the 2007 review.

Current scientific names and commonly used synonyms derive from the Nameserver facility of the National Biodiversity Network Species Dictionary, which is managed by the Natural History Museum. More detailed information about the distribution and taxonomy of these species can be found using the NBN gateway, and details of Species Action Plans (SAPs) can be found on BARS.

JNCC have collated already-published information from a variety of sources for all of the UK BAP priority species, to bring these data together into a single report, or 'species account', for each species. All of this information is already available on either the JNCC website, the NBN Gateway, or the BARS website. More detail about the information within the species accounts is available here. Each individual species account can be accessed by selecting a name in the table below, or through the full list of priority species.

UK BAP priority bird species
Scientific name and link to species account	NBN common name	Taxon	England	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland	Original UK BAP species?
Acrocephalus paludicola	Aquatic Warbler	bird	Y	N	Y	N	Yes – SAP
Acrocephalus palustris	Marsh Warbler	bird	Y	Y	Y	N	Yes – SAP
Alauda arvensis subsp. arvensis/scotica	Sky Lark	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – SAP
Anser albifrons subsp. albifrons	European Greater White-fronted Goose	bird	Y	N	N	N
Anser albifrons subsp. flavirostris	Greenland Greater White-fronted Goose	bird	N	Y	Y	Y
Anthus trivialis	Tree Pipit	bird	Y	Y	Y	N
Aythya marila	Greater Scaup	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Botaurus stellaris	Great Bittern	bird	Y	Y	Y	N	Yes – SAP
Branta bernicla subsp. bernicla	Dark-bellied Brent Goose	bird	Y	N	Y	N
Burhinus oedicnemus	Stone-curlew	bird	Y	N	N	N	Yes – SAP
Caprimulgus europaeus	European Nightjar	bird	Y	Y	Y	N	Yes – SAP
Carduelis cabaret	Lesser Redpoll	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Carduelis cannabina subsp. autochthona/cannabina	Common Linnet	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – SAP
Carduelis flavirostris subsp. bensonorum/pipilans	Twite	bird	Y	Y	Y	N
Coccothraustes coccothraustes	Hawfinch	bird	Y	Y	Y	N
Crex crex	Corn Crake	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – SAP
Cuculus canorus	Common Cuckoo	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Cygnus columbianus subsp. bewickii	Tundra Swan	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Dendrocopos minor subsp. comminutus	Lesser Spotted Woodpecker	bird	Y	N	Y	N
Emberiza calandra subsp. calandra/clanceyi	Corn Bunting	bird	Y	Y	Y	N	Yes – SAP
Emberiza cirlus	Cirl Bunting	bird	Y	N	N	N	Yes – SAP
Emberiza citrinella	Yellowhammer	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Emberiza schoeniclus *	Reed Bunting	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – SAP
Gavia arctica	Black-throated Diver	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Jynx torquilla	Eurasian Wryneck	bird	Y	Y	Y	N	Yes – SAP
Lagopus lagopus subsp. scotica	Red Grouse	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Lanius collurio	Red-backed Shrike	bird	Y	Y	Y	N	Yes – SAP
Larus argentatus subsp. argenteus	Herring Gull	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Limosa limosa subsp. limosa	Black-tailed Godwit	bird	Y	Y	N	N
Locustella luscinioides	Savi's Warbler	bird	Y	N	N	N
Locustella naevia	Common Grasshopper Warbler	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Loxia scotica	Scottish Crossbill	bird	N	Y	N	N	Yes – SAP
Lullula arborea	Wood Lark	bird	Y	N	Y	N	Yes – SAP
Melanitta nigra	Common Scoter	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – SAP
Motacilla flava subsp. flavissima	Yellow Wagtail	bird	Y	Y	Y	N
Muscicapa striata	Spotted Flycatcher	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – SAP
Numenius arquata	Eurasian Curlew	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Passer domesticus	House Sparrow	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Passer montanus	Eurasian Tree Sparrow	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – SAP
Perdix perdix	Grey Partridge	bird	Y	Y	Y	N	Yes – SAP
Phalaropus lobatus	Red-necked Phalarope	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – SAP
Phylloscopus sibilatrix	Wood Warbler	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Poecile montanus subsp. kleinschimdti	Willow Tit	bird	Y	Y	Y	N
Poecile palustris subsp. palustris/dresseri	Marsh Tit	bird	Y	Y	Y	N
Prunella modularis subsp. occidentalis	Hedge Accentor	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Puffinus mauretanicus	Balearic Shearwater	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Pyrrhula pyrrhula subsp. pileata	Common Bullfinch	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – SAP
Stercorarius parasiticus	Arctic Skua	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Sterna dougallii	Roseate Tern	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – SAP
Streptopelia turtur	European Turtle Dove	bird	Y	Y	Y	N	Yes – SAP
Sturnus vulgaris subsp. vulgaris	Common Starling	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Tetrao tetrix subsp. britannicus	Black Grouse	bird	Y	Y	Y	N	Yes – SAP
Tetrao urogallus	Western Capercaillie	bird	N	Y	N	N	Yes – SAP
Troglodytes troglodytes subsp. fridariensis	Fair Isle Wren	bird	N	Y	N	N
Troglodytes troglodytes subsp. hirtensis	St Kilda Wren	bird	N	Y	N	N
Turdus philomelos subsp. clarkei	Song Thrush	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y	Yes – SAP
Turdus philomelos subsp. hebridensis	Hebridean Song Thrush	bird	N	Y	N	N	Yes – SAP
Turdus torquatus	Ring Ouzel	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y
Vanellus vanellus	Northern Lapwing	bird	Y	Y	Y	Y

* Note that a study was carried out in 2010 on breeding reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) and their dependence on river habitat quality. The results of the study are available here.