ORNITHOLOGISTS in East Lancashire are taking part in a moorland survey to halt the decline of one of the region's most under-threat birds.

A survey of the twite, a member of the finch family, is being carried out on the moorland around Cliviger and Hurstwood to gauge numbers of the species and to try and reverse the fall in numbers.

The bird has suffered a decline in numbers in many parts of the country in recent years because of changes in agricultural practices, as well as reduction in heather and upland forest cover.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) estimates population in the southern Pennines, one of its favourite haunts, dropped by 80 per cent between 1990 to 2000.

One of the aims of the project is to publicise what farmers can do to encourage the birds on their land.

In England, breeding colonies are now exclusively found in the South Pennines - in the moorland area lying roughly between Huddersfield, Rochdale, Burnley and Keighley - dubbed the 'Twite Triangle' by the RSPB, and in the Peak District.

RSPB conservation officer Tim Melling said: "Our survey in the summer of 1999 showed that numbers of twite in the South Pennines had declined by 50 per cent in the 1990s - an alarming statistic which we want to turn around.

"Supplementary feeding will help in the short-term, but long-term success in reversing the decline of the twite in the South Pennines will only be achieved by encouraging farmers to implement twite-friendly practices."

The twite is one of only two British birds, the other is the linnet, that feeds entirely on plant seeds. Most seed-eaters feed their chicks on insects.

These unassuming little birds, smaller than a sparrow, nest on moorlands in tall heather and bracken but collect their food from hay meadows on the surrounding farmland, generally close to the moorland edge.

Volunteers in Cliviger and Hurstwood will be joined by armies of bird lovers who will be dispatched to twite breeding colonies this summer to provide extra seeds for the birds, who will return from wintering on the UK coast from mid-March.