A MILD winter has boosted sightings of smaller garden birds in Cumbria.

More than 4,600 people took part in the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch in the county with the House Sparrow the most commonly spotted.

And the tiny long-tailed tit flew into the national top ten of most viewed birds after the average number seen increased this year by 44 per cent.

In Cumbria they were up 13 per cent, moving from 13th place last year to become the 12th most commonly seen bird in the county. 

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RSPB experts are linking the increase in sightings of long-tailed tits, as well as other smaller gardens birds such as coal tits, to the mild weather in the months leading up to the 2016 Birdwatch.

Small, insect-eating birds like long- tailed tits are particularly susceptible to the cold as the food they rely on is hard to come by in frosts and snow so milder conditions are likely to have contributed to a higher survival rate.

Dr Daniel Hayhow, RSPB Conservation Scientist, said: “This year’s survey was another brilliant year for the Big Garden Birdwatch. More than half-a-million people took part counting a bumper 8.2 million birds, providing us with valuable data which helps to build a better picture of how our garden birds are doing.

“The weather can have varied effects on different groups of birds in terms of behaviour and habitats used. The increase in long-tailed tit sightings, along with other smaller garden birds, just goes to show that, in the absence of very cold weather, these species can survive the winter months in much greater numbers. The warmer temperatures have made it easier to find food, like insects, which in previous colder winters would have been harder to come by because of frosts and snow.”

Dr Hayhow added: “The increase in sightings of these smaller garden birds highlights the importance of a well-stocked bird feeder. Long-tailed tits only started using garden feeders in recent years, and now more people are spotting them in their gardens as this behaviour develops.”

But many garden favourites such as starlings and song thrushes are struggling and the survey shows that the number of both species visiting gardens has declined by 81 and 89 per cent retrospectively since the first Birdwatch in 1979.