Twite of Britain and Ireland

Photo credit: Maris Pukitis on VisualHunt.com/CC BY-NC-SA

The Twite, Linaria flavirostris, is a small brown finch which resembles a Linnet. They inhabit open moorland, grassland and sea cliffs. Most of the British population breed in Scotland with smaller numbers in the South Pennines of Northern England. Small numbers breed in two areas in Wales.

The population in England has fallen dramatically while there are fears Twites are facing extinction in Ireland.

Adults are a tawny colour with heavy dark brown streaks and white underparts. Males have a pink rump in the summer while those of females are brown. 

Birdguides provided a video of Twites in their natural habitat: https://www.birdguides.com/species-guide/ioc/linaria-flavirostris/

Twites are sociable birds who live and breed on the edges of moors, open grassland, hay meadows, arable land, sea cliffs and marshes near the coast.

The diet of Twites is seeds, grain and buds. They forage on the ground for the seeds of dandelion, thistle, annual meadow grass, common sorrel, chickweed and sea plantain. Chicks also feed on seeds in the summer. The adults sometimes eat insects.

Twites are resident birds which either stay near their breeding grounds throughout the year or fly long distances to the coast for the winter.

Scotland holds most of the breeding population of Twites in Britain. Birdlife charities estimate there are13,800 pairs breeding in Scotland. Twites are common breeding birds in northern and western Scotland.

There only a small population in Northern England which is confined to the moorland of the South Pennines..

Twites are “now found only in the Nant Ffrancon and Ogwen valleys of northern Snowdonia, where just 30 pairs remain” [RSPB - http://ww2.rspb.org.uk/Images/Englishtwite1_tcm9-133266.pdf ).

Most Scottish and Welsh Twites leave their breeding sites and fly to the coasts of Scotland in the winter. Twites on the Inner Herbredies winter in Northern England [RSPB Handbook of Scottish Birds).

Some Scandinavian Twites winter in Scotland while the rest of the population travel to the Baltic.

A small number of Twites from Scotland fly to Ireland for the winter. Wintering birds congregate around coastal marshes and ploughed fields in Antrim, Down and Louth in the north and east of Ireland. The wintering population is thought to be between 600 and 1000 birds.

Twites used to breed along all Irish coasts. There are less than100 pairs currently breeding on the coastal bogs of Counties Mayo and Donegal.

The British Trust for Ornithology provided a map of the breeding population of Twites in Britain and Ireland: https://app.bto.org/mapstore/StoreServlet?id=474

Pairs return to the breeding grounds in March. They make their nests on the ground in heather, bracken and other tall vegetation. Nest sites are usually found on the edges of moorland, farmland and sea cliffs on higher ground. The breeding season takes places between April and August.

Four or five eggs are laid in April or May which take between 12 and 13 days to hatch. The young leave the nest after 15 or 16 days. Their parents continue to feed the young for another 2 weeks. Some pairs raise a second brood in places where there is an abundance of seeds. The Twite is classified as of Least Concern by IUCN.

Europe holds 10% of the global population of Twites. “In Europe, the population size is estimated to be decreasing by less than 25% in 12.6 years” according to Birdlife International.

Map of the population of Twites in Britain, Ireland and Europe: http://s1.sovon.nl/ebcc/eoa/?species1=16620

The Twite is a red-listed species of bird in Britain and Ireland.

The range of British Twites has been “retreating” northwards. “UK numbers were fairly stable between 1970 and 1990, but have undergone a dramatic decline in northern England since then. The population in the southern Pennines is estimated to have decreased by 80 per cent between 1990 and 2000” [RSPB - https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/conservation-and-sustainability/farming/advice/helping-species/twite/ ).

The number of Twites in Ireland has fallen dramatically since the twentieth century. Birdwatch reported the population of Twites is declining on the north and west coast of the Republic of Ireland. There are fears Twites will become extinct as a breeding species in the near future.

The reasons for the decline are “loss of flower and herb-rich hay meadows, the abandonment of fodder crops which also contained weeds and more intensive grazing may affect nests” [RSPB Handbook of Scottish Birds).

References Handbook of Scottish Birds by Peter Holden and Stuart Housden