Lovers may be left scrambling around to find other presents to give to their beloved on the first and second days of Christmas this year as grey partridge and turtle dove numbers tumble.
The popular stars of the "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song are in decline, with nearly 60% of the turtle dove population lost between 2005-2010, and a 30% decrease in grey partridge numbers in the same period.
"Losing six out of ten of our turtle doves and three out of ten grey partridges in five years is nothing short of an unsustainable wildlife disaster," said RSPB conservation scientist Dr Mark Eaton. "The turtle dove is in a great degree of danger - if this trend were to continue we could be down to fewer than 1,000 pairs by the middle of the next decade, with complete extinction a real possibility."
The RSPB warning came as the Government released its annual report on wild bird populations, which showed that farmland birds as a whole, including the two Christmas species and others such as the skylark and the corn bunting, have continued to decline, despite millions of pounds being spent to allow farmers to carry out environmental stewardship schemes.
The breeding farmland bird index was at half of its 1970 level in 2011, the lowest level ever recorded. The Countryside Restoration Trust said that the farmland birds decline has happened despite £500 million of public money being poured into agri-environment schemes.
The statistics show that woodland birds are also significantly declining and in 2011 the woodland bird index was at 17% of its 1970 level.
The RSPB has launched a three year project to save the turtle dove. Operation Turtle Dove encourages farmers to protect the hedgerows, for nesting, and plant wildflowers that produce seeds the birds like to eat.
The charity’s Grahame Madge said, "We are in a race against time. We have already lost turtle doves in some key areas like the south west of England and parts of northern England. All across the range, their population is declining rapidly."
