Wild bird covers: Financial and environmental potential fwi.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from fwi.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Blackbirds remain most common bird species on Scottish farms
Blackbirds remain the most commonly seen species of bird on Scottish farms
Blackbirds remain the most commonly seen species of birds on Scottish farms, crofts and estates, according to results from this year’s Big Farmland Bird Count.
The count, which was launched in 2014 by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), aims to assess the effect of conservation schemes on farms and estates, such as supplementary feeding or growing wild bird seed or game cover crops.
A total of 93 species were recorded by 117 Scottish farmers, who collectively farm more than 98,000 acres, in this year’s count.
A blackbird spotted at Auchnerran RESULTS ARE in for Scotland s latest Big Farmland Bird Count, with a big increase in the number of farmers taking part. This was the eighth annual BFBC, organised by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, and it received a record numbers of responses from across the UK. In Scotland, 117 farmers took part and recorded 93 species across more than 98,000 acres – a 45% increase in participation compared to last year. The BFBC was launched in 2014 to highlight the positive work done by farmers and gamekeepers in helping to reverse the decline in farmland bird numbers. The count offers a simple means of recording the effect of any conservation work currently being instigated by farmers and gamekeepers on their land, such as scatter feeding birds through winter or growing crops specifically to provide seed for birds.
A RECORD number of farmers participated in this year’s Big Farmland Bird Count, leading to 81 per cent more birds being counted over one million hectares of British farmland. The annual nationwide survey, organised by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) and sponsored by the NFU for the past three years, showed some encouraging results. Despite much of the country being blanketed in snow during the survey period (February 5-21), 2,500 counts were returned. This represents a 65 per cent increase in the number of counts submitted compared to 2020. A total of 25 species from the Red List for Birds of Conservation Concern were recorded in this year’s count, with eight appearing in the 25 most frequently seen species list.