Farmland bird survey counts 275,000 birds across UK

National census of farmland birds

More than 275,000 birds were recorded across nearly 293,000 hectares of UK farmland in this year’s Big Farmland Bird Count (BFBC), with red-listed species featuring prominently despite poor spring weather.

Run by GWCT and sponsored by the NFU, the annual survey has formed a national census of farmland birds since 2014. This year it drew more than 1,200 submissions, with the highest counts coming from Suffolk, Norfolk and Lincolnshire.

Of the 69,222 red-listed birds counted across 34 species, starling (25,306), lapwing (19,198) and fieldfare (15,816) were the most numerous. Some 67% of participating farms were enrolled in an agri-environment scheme, with 64% providing supplementary feeding.

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Evidence for conservation policy

Jayna Connelly, GWCT’s science communicator, said the data showed that well-managed farmland appeared to be providing winter refuge for species under pressure nationally. “Red-listed farmland specialists such as starling, lapwing and linnet continue to feature strongly in the counts, despite severe long-term declines shown by British Trust for Ornithology data,” she said. “However, it hasn’t solved the underlying breeding problems driving national declines.”

Roger Draycott, GWCT’s director of advisory, said the findings underlined the value of practitioner science: “This makes conversations with other scientists, working conservationists on the ground, and policymakers easier, as we have strong data to back up our points.”

Farmland bird numbers have fallen by 63% in the past 50 years. GWCT said a long-term analysis of Big Farmland Bird Count data is in preparation.