WILDLIFE lovers are being called to help halt the decline of a bird in Hampshire.

Experts are concerned about the falling number of the county's common nightingale – widely celebrated in literature and music for the beauty of its song.

Now the Ornithological Society and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust are joining forces to try and establish the locations and number of breeding territories of the birds.

To do that, the two organisations plan to carry out a full survey of all areas of suitable habitat during the 2018 breeding season.

And they are asking for people's help to carry out the survey.

There will be a minimum of two surveys carried out between April 21 and May 20, covering all tetrads that are known to have supported nightingales in recent years.

In addition, they are requesting optional nocturnal visits, to be carried out between midnight and 2am, between May 18 and June 4, to establish the presence of unpaired males.

If you are confident with identifying nightingale song, and would like to help out with nightingale surveys in Hampshire in 2018, contact Trevor Codlin at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust on trevor.codlin@hiwwt.org.uk.