Warming bringing exotic birds to Britain

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LONDON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Climate change could see the spread into Britain of exotic bird species from other parts of Europe, ornithologists say.

While Britain has suffered massive declines in the last 10 years in many native garden and farmland birds, including the turtle dove, warming temperatures could see exotic birds like the hoopoe, fantailed warbler and great reed warbler arriving in the future, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said.

The charity predicts the purple heron, black kite and tiny serin could also spread to Britain, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

The bird that has seen the largest overall increase in the past decade with climate change is the little egret, a small heron usually only found on the main European Continent.

The south of England has also been colonized by the Mediterranean gull, ornithologists said.

And black woodpeckers, much bigger than the British native green woodpeckers, are already in northern France may cross the Channel, although chances are slim since the species doesn't like to cross large bodies of water, they said.