Biodiversity
Action
Plan
Back from the Brink: Willow Tit
The Back from the Brink (BftB) programme from 2017 to 2021) aimed to save some of England’s most threatened species from extinction and put them back on the road to recovery.
The BftB Willow Tit project took forward work in the Dearne Valley Green Heart NIA, where surveys resulted in a report published in British Birds: Thriving Willow Tits in a post-industrial landscape,Carr, G. & Lunn, J. (2017)
Building on this work, the BftB project, led by YWT and RSPB, aimed to gain a better understanding of the habitat characteristics used by Willow Tits and how far they travel between patches. It included
- Annual surveys collected population data and distribution in the NIA,
- Ringing and tracking Willow Tits with use of radio tracking on 11 birds to get data on use of habitats and landscape
- Improved >100ha habitat in land managed by YWT, RSPB, BMBC, EA, YW …
- Enhancing scrub, understorey and woodland edge to suit Willow Tit.
- Selected thinning and coppicing
- Removing tall canopy trees
- Creating more woodland edge through rides and glades
- Some planting of key scrub species
- Creating linkages between sites .
- Deadwood logs strapped to living trees, and leaving stumps to increase Willow Tit nesting opportunities.
Legacy of the BftB project
for Willow Tit conservation
Willow Tit conservation handbook for habitat management and species monitoring
Text: Geoff Carr and Sophie Pinder.
A landscape management plan to improve habitat for Willow Tit in the Dearne Valley.
Ongoing monitoring, surveying and conservation management for Willow Tit.
SSSI designation of Dearne Valley Wetlands with sites notified for Willow Tit.
Links
Back from the Brink Willow Tit Project
BftB Willow Tit Project Outcomes [Link]
Willow Tit Species Summary (pdf) [Link]
Willow Tit Habitat Guide (pdf) [Link]
Conservation Handbook (large pdf) [Link]
BftB Archive Posts [Link]
