Farmland birds dwindle as wild species take off

Numbers of wild birds have soared by 10 per cent since the 1970s while farmland and woodland birds have plummeted.

One hundred and thirteen breeding species of wild birds have been growing since the early 1990s, with a six per cent rise over the decade, figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs reveal.

But breeding farmland birds have decreased to about 60 per cent of their numbers in 1970, although they have remained stable since the early 1990s.

The sharpest declines have been grey partridge, turtle dove and starling.

The drop has been linked to changes in farm practices, including the loss of mixed farms, switching to autumn sowing of cereals and loss of field margins and hedges.

Seven farmland species have however been increasing, including woodpigeon and stock dove, possibly due to greater oilseed rape production.

Overall, woodland birds have also fallen and are 10 per cent lower than in the early 1970s.
The species that are increasing are breeding seabirds, which are 30 per cent higher than in 1970. Two new seabird species, the razorbill and black guillemot, have been included in the index for the first time.
Wintering wetland birds more than doubled between the mid 1970s and 2004/2005.

There have been major increases for woodpigeon and jackdaw, and for scarce breeding birds such as avocet and woodlark.

Birds are considered to be a good indicator of the state of wildlife because they occupy a wide range of habitats, tend to be near or at the top of the food chain and long term information on bird populations has been collected.

The Yorkshire Post