All official European Union website addresses are in the europa.eu domain.
See all EU institutions and bodies
An official website of the European Union | How do you know?
Environmental information systems
Key messages: Long-term trends show that between 1990 and 2022 the index of 168 common birds decreased by 14% in the EU. The decline was much stronger in common farmland birds, at 40%, while the common forest bird index decreased by 3%.The past trend indicates a steady decline in the population of all common birds, which seems unlikely to be reversed by 2030.
EU Common bird index, 1990-2022
Loading chart...
Birds are sensitive to environmental pressures and their populations can serve as an indicator of the health of the environment and help measure progress towards the EU’s aim to put biodiversity on the path to recovery by 2030.
Long-term population trends of all common birds in the 26 EU Member States with monitoring schemes reveal significant population declines (EEA, 2024). Between 1990 and 2022, the common bird index declined by 14%, while the common forest bird index decreased by 3%. The decline in common farmland birds was much more pronounced, at 40% (see Figure).
These trends demonstrate a major decline in biodiversity in Europe, caused by anthropogenic pressures. Agricultural intensification, in particular pesticides and fertiliser use, is the main pressure for most bird population declines. Other factors that have adverse effects on the recovery of populations are land use change and associated habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation; intensive forest management; climate change; and increasing competition for land for the production renewable energy and biofuels.
To ensure the recovery of common birds, Member States need to significantly increase the implementation of existing policies and put new conservation and restoration objectives and measures in place. It is crucial that more effective and ambitious measures to halt biodiversity loss are included in other policies, such as the EU common agricultural policy (CAP) — and that the CAP Strategic Plans support the implementation and effectiveness of the current and upcoming EU biodiversity and nature legislation.
Please consult the relevant indicators and signals below for a more comprehensive overview on the topic.
Zero Pollution Action Plan 2030 target or policy objectives
By 2030, significant areas of degraded and carbon-rich ecosystems are restored, habitats and species show no deterioration in conservation trends and status, and at least 30% reach favourable conservation status or at least show a positive trend (EC, 2020).
Reverse the decline in common bird populations (EC, 2022).
Return to the main pages:
Other relevant indicators and signals
References and footnotes
- ↵EEA, 2024, Common bird index in Europe (https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/common-bird-index-in-europe )
- EC, 2020, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 Bringing nature back into our lives (COM/2020/380 final).↵
- EC, 2022, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the monitoring framework for the 8th Environment Action Programme: Measuring progress towards the attainment of the Programme’s 2030 and 2050 priority objectives (COM/2022/357 final).↵