WILDLIFE protection officials are launching a new scheme to study North Yorkshire's bird life.

The new project will plot the birds that nest on farmland in the North York Moors to study them in their natural environment.

The project is being jointly organised by the North York Moors National Park Authority, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and English Nature.

It is hoped the three-month survey will reveal new information about the importance of the area for birds such as the lapwing, curlew, and snipe.

North Yorkshire RSPB conservation officer Nicola Melville said: "This is an exciting opportunity to find out new information about the farmland birds of the North York Moors, while at the same time helping the farmers who shape the landscape of this special area."

This local study follows a national survey by the society, the Big Garden Birdwatch 2003.

More than 6,000 people in the county took part in January's survey, finding that the house sparrow is North Yorkshire's top garden bird.

The region bucked the national trend which found the starling most popular, also having a higher number of birds on average than the national average.

But the results show a sharp drop in the last 25 years, with an average of five-and-a-half sparrows at any one time today, compared to ten in 1979.

A further survey into the sparrow is to take place next month. For more information contact the RSPB's house sparrow hotline number 0870 601 0215 (calls charged at national rate).

Updated: 08:37 Wednesday, April 02, 2003