RF indicates a nest that must have been successful whereas NE or NY could still fail, so why are they regarded as higher levels of breeding status?
This survey is intended to map the species breeding in each tetrad, but not measuring their success or failure. Some RF chicks, especially Starlings for instance, can actually have moved some distance, quite possibly from an adjacent tetrad, which is why NY is regarded as a higher level of proof of breeding at that site. Flightless swans, geese, ducks, Lapwings etc can often be moved 400-800m (or more) by their parents, as well. HABITAT RECORDING A lot of my tetrad is farmland with Hawthorn hedge boundaries. Obviously a Lapwing nesting in the middle of the field is E1 or E4 habitat, but what about a Crow’s nest in a single Oak tree in the middle of the field? The habitat is not the same as the nest-site. A Crow nesting in a tree in the middle of the field is still using habitat E1 or E4.
