The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, (abbreviated RSPB) was founded in 1889 in England, and is now probably the largest conservation oragnisation of its kind in the world. The RSPB is the UK's representative of Birdlife International.

The RSPB headquarters are at The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, England.

As of 2001, the RSPB had 168 bird reserves in the United Kingdom, covering 1,150 km².

The society publishes a quarterly members magazine, which has been called simply Birds since 1965. Prior to this the members magazine was called Bird Notes.

The RSPB is a registered charity, answerable to the charity commission for ensuring that its funds are used wisely. It is governed by a Council of elected wildlife conservation experts, headed by Chairman Ian Newton. There is also a Management Board headed by Chief Executive Graham Wynne, who reports to the chairman of the Council.

The emblem of the Royal Society is the Pied Avocet, representing the campaign the RSPB led to bring the bird back from extinction.

Conservation lists

The RSPB believes that "the health of bird populations reflect the health of the planet" ^*. It maintains a conservation status list for all birds found in the UK. This consists of three lists, called the red, green and amber lists of concern. The red list is for birds of the highest conservation concern in the British Isles.

For a bird species to be on the RSPB Red List it must fulfill any one of the following four criteria^*

• A globally threatened species
• A decline in the UK population (1800 to 1995)
• At least a 50% decline in the UK breeding population over last 25 years
• At least a 50% reduction in the UK breeding range over last 25 years

The RSPB Red List is not to be confused with the IUCN Red List.

The motivation behind the conservation lists is the society's belief that "we all have a responsibiliy to protect biodiversity".

Birds on the RSPB British Red List

• Arctic Warbler
• Aquatic Warbler
• Great Bittern
• Eurasian Bullfinch
• Black Grouse
• Capercaillie
• Common Scoter
• Corn Bunting
• Corncrake
• Grasshopper Warbler
• Grey Partridge
• Hen Harrier
• House Sparrow
• Linnet
• Marsh Tit
• Marsh Warbler
• European Nightjar
• Common Quail
• Ring Ouzel
• Red-backed Shrike
• Red-necked Phalarope
• Roseate Tern
• Savi's Warbler
• Scottish Crossbill
• Skylark
• Song Thrush
• Spotted Flycatcher
• European Starling
• Tree Sparrow
• Turtle Dove
• Twite
• White-tailed Eagle
• Willow Tit
• Eurasian Wryneck
• Yellowhammer

For a comprehensive list of all British Birds see List of British birds

Funding

The Society raised £63 million in voluntary contributions in 2005. Main sources of income were

• £24m Membership subscriptions
• £21m Legacies
• £13m Grants, commercial donations & trusts ^*

RSPB Scotland is a member of the Scotland Forest Alliance, together with BP, Forest Enterprise and the Woodland Trust Scotland. The Alliance has received £10 million of funding from BP over the last ten years ^*.

See also

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• List of RSPB reserves
• Category:Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserves

External links

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• RSPB Website Homepage
• RSPB Podcast trial (see Podcast).

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds | 1889 establishments

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds | Royal Society for the Protection of Birds