Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vertebrate > bird > Bird |
| Red List Status: | Near Threatened (Breeding) [NT(br)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Saxicola rubetra |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Linnaeus, 1758) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Stanbury et al., 2021 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Long term significant decline Eng BBS (25 yr -57%, 10 yr -25%). |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Research needed to determine causes of decline and to trial solutions, if necessary. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | We are unsure of precise habitat requirements/management needs, especially in upland landscapes in northern England |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Structured - sufficient |
| Species Comments: | BBS trend becoming less robust |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Identify whether i) low breeding productivity and juvenile survival vary spatially, ii) this variation can be explained by climate and environmental variables.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Develop a trial management project to test solutions using the outcomes of completed diagnostic research and move to implementation as soon as possible.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites:
Comments: Refer to recent RSPB research findings on Exmoor and Dartmoor
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Manage important breeding areas optimally, including preventing inappropriate tree planting.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Pressure mitigation
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: Unknown
High priority sites: North Pennines, Forest of Bowland, Yorkshire Dales, Peak District Dartmoor, Exmoor
Comments:
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.