One in three children cannot identify a magpie

Britain’s most common wildlife is an alien world to today’s children because they spend so little time outdoors, according to a new survey by the National Trust.

One in three youngsters cannot identify a magpie, one of the UK’s most common and most distinctive birds, and half did not know the difference between a bee and a wasp.
The survey also found that:

just 53 per cent of children could correctly identify an oak leaf
one in three failed to recognise a Red Admiral, Britain’s best-known butterfly
children in East Anglia were most aware of their natural surroundings.

Parents appeared to recognise that their children’s knowledge of nature was sparse. Some 67% of parents thought they knew more about wildlife when they were youngsters than their children do now while 65% felt that this was partly due to the fact that they spent too little time with their children as a family outdoors

The survey, carried out across both urban and rural areas across the UK, was part of a major new campaign to encourage families to spend more time together outdoors.

See: www.nationaltrust.org.uk

One in three children cannot identify a magpie

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