THE NUMBER of blue tits in Oxfordshire gardens has dropped by 20 per cent in the past year.

Sightings of great tits, chaffinches and carrion crows also fell by a similar amount, while the number of greenfinches plummeted by 42 per cent from 2016 to 2017.

Overall, half of the top 20 bird species recorded in Oxfordshire for this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch fell since last year.

The RSPB said many of the drops could be attributed to wet weather during the 2016 breeding season killing off young birds in the smallest species.

But the charity also said the results highlighted the importance of gardens in sustaining wildlife.

Gary Smith, warden at RSPB Otmoor just outside Oxford, said “That is really important all year-round, especially in spring when birds are trying to raise five or six chicks.”

The warnings about declining numbers tie in with the first Oxfordshire State of Nature report published by Wild Oxfordshire in March.

That report warned that many species in the county are in decline and the turtle dove and nightingale are nearly extinct here.

A total of 8,332 adults and children took part in this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch in Oxfordshire, an increase of more than 1,000 people on 2016.

The house sparrow kept its crown as the most common garden bird in Oxfordshire, being spotted in 71 per cent of gardens, with an average of 3.9 birds per garden.

It was followed in the local rankings by the blackbird, starling and wood pigeon.

Mr Smith said the huge local participation in this year’s survey and the stability of the top-ranking birds showed that people in Oxfordshire were doing the right things to help wildlife.

Oxfordshire also cashed in on what the RSPB called a ‘boom’ in unusual migrant visitors such as waxwings.

A flock of the Scandinavian natives, last seen in Oxfordshire five years ago, attracted a flock of birdwatchers when they alighted in trees on Marston Road, Oxford, in January, days before this year’s birdwatch.

Oxfordshire’s results tally well with the national picture, with house sparrows, starlings, blackbirds and pigeons the top four birds spotted across the UK.

There was also a nationwide drop in tits and finches.

The number of robins recorded across the UK was at its highest for more than 20 years, increasing 24 per cent from 2007.