Twite – or ‘Pennine finch’ – on brink of extinction in England

Despite rescue efforts to plant twite meadows' only 12 pairs of seed-eating bird bred this summer

A small bird once so abundant it was called the Pennine finch" is teetering on the brink of extinction in England after just 12 pairs bred this summer.

The twite, an inconspicuous, seed-eating bird that nests in the uplands and spends winters on coastal marshes, has suffered a precipitous decline this century, with the breeding population falling by 75% between 1999 and 2013.