Did you know that today (Sunday 5 January) is National Bird Day?
It is a day dedicated to raising awareness about the conservation of birds and recognizing the beauty and importance of them in our ecosystems, as well as inspiring people to protect birds and their habitats so they thrive for future generations.
This is an important day, as the UK’s bird population is declining. In fact between 2015 and 2020, 48% of species experienced a drop in numbers and the total breeding bird population is estimated to have declined from 232million in 1970 to 159million today.
There are some species that buck the trend however. For instance, the Buzzard population has increased by 838% between 1967 and 2020, whilst that of the Sparrowhawk family has increased by 77% between 1975 and 2020.
If the UK’s bird population is something you are interested in, then our custom built Animal Management Unit at Hadlow houses hundreds of animals from over 100 different species, including many birds, and is one of the country’s leading educational animal collections.
Our Animal Management courses mix theory, such as learning about the structure and function of the animal body, along with practical work.
Students are involved in all aspects of husbandry and management from planning animal collections, and designing and maintaining enclosures, to day-to-day animal care within an animal collection set up as a commercial enterprise.
To find out more visit the Animal Management course page on the Hadlow College website.