HOUSE sparrows are top of the tree in Worcestershire, according to this year's RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch.

Thousands of people across the county took part in the January survey to find out how many birds are visiting our gardens and parks.

The survey, backed by the Evening News, saw organisers from the RSPB swamped with 6,500 entry forms detailing which and how many birds flew into their gardens within a chosen hour.

The Birdwatch, organised to try to highlight which species are in decline and which are thriving, showed house sparrows were top with an average of four per garden, followed closely by starlings and blue tits.

In Worcestershire the blackbird, chaffinch, woodpigeon and robin populations all showed a slight increase on last year.

Population

But every other bird species in the top 10 had decreased in numbers, with the biggest drops in the starling population, from 4.0 to 3.5 average per garden and blue tit, 3.4 to 3.0.

But it was not all doom and gloom for our county's birds with sightings of long-tailed tits (1.2 per garden) and blackcaps (0.3) significantly increasing, moving these species well up the charts.

A staggering 410,000 people took part in the survey across the UK, making Big Garden Birdwatch the world's largest bird survey.

"It has given us an amazing insight into how birds are faring in gardens and has proved informative and a real hit with families everywhere," said RSPB spokesman Andy Waters.

Monitoring

The RSPB is currently monitoring sparrow populations in detail, to find out why these and other species are in decline.

Top tips on helping our garden birds include providing a regular source of food throughout the year, clean water and nest boxes.