The numbers of some of Britain's best-loved birds are falling at a worrying rate, a new study has found.

Species such as the skylark and the yellowhammer in particular have seen their numbers fall.

The results of the government's Wild Bird Populations 2006 indicator showed that wild farmland bird species had declined by approximately 60 per cent since 1970.

The RSPB called the findings "extremely depressing".

Sue Armstrong-Brown, the RSPB's head of countryside policy, said: "Farmland birds are the barometer by which the government measures the health of the countryside," the BBC reports.

"We wish there was a better story to tell, but the farmland bird index reaching its lowest point is extremely depressing news."

However, the report did offer some optimism as is stated that "it is too early to say whether this is the start of a further period of decline".

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