What other patterns did we find?
Regional patterns
There were some regional patterns in the occurrence of different species nesting in gardens. For example House Sparrows were more commonly found nesting in the north of England and Scotland (27% of gardens) than in the south of England and the Midlands (21% gardens). This mirrors known population trends for this species, which has declined dramatically in the south and south-east of England, but elsewhere populations are stable or increasing. Conversely, Robins were more frequently found nesting in the south of England than further north in the country, with 33% of gardens in southern England and 26% of gardens in the Midlands, but only in 18% of gardens in northern England and Scotland reporting nests of this species.
Garden characteristics
We also asked GNS volunteers to record aspects of the habitat in their gardens, and used this to look at associations with species nesting. Unsurprisingly, cavity-nesting species like Blue Tit and Great Tit were more likely to be seen in gardens with nest boxes, and the more deciduous hedge that was present in a garden, the greater the chance of seeing species like Robin, Blackbird, Dunnock and Wren nesting.
If gardens had an area of wild or unmanaged land then this increased the likelihood of seeing all species nesting, and also increased the number of species per garden.
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