RSPB thanks farmers for return of rare bird

Two decades ago the cirl bunting was on the brink of extinction but latest figures show numbers have increased by 7-fold since 1989, reaching 862 breeding pairs in 2009.

The rise in numbers follows a joint campaign by the RSPB and Natural England to help farmers in the South West to provide year-round food supplies and a breeding habitat for the threatened birds.

“This is fantastic news, we are all very excited that these fascinating birds are starting to make a comeback,” said Mark Avery, RSPB director of conservation.

“But we can’t take all the credit. The cirl bunting is a farmland bird and it’s down to the work farmers on the Devon coast have put in on their land that this comeback has been possible,” he said.

Under the Cirl Bunting Species Recovery Programme, led by the RSPB and co-funded by Natural England, farmers were advised which agri-environment scheme options would benefit the bird. These included grasslands, which provide invertebrates for summer food, and weedy overwinter stubble, which provide essential seed food during the colder months.

Although Mr Avery said farmland birds as a group had declined by 50 per cent in the past 40 years, he said the latest figures offered hope for continued cooperation with farmers and further improvement in overall bird numbers.

“If we can halt the decline in a dangerously threatened species like this one then there is hope for all the endangered birds in our countryside,” he said.

Tom Tew, chief scientist of Natural England, agreed: “The recovery of the cirl bunting shows what can be achieved when farmers and conservationists work together to target specific land management measures in the right place,” he said.

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