Corn Bunting Welfare and Farmland Bird Crisis

The corn bunting's jangling song — like keys shaking — was once the soundtrack of English farmland. An 88% population decline since 1970 makes it one of the most severely affected farmland birds.

Key Facts

88% decline in UK since 1970 — red-listed species
Males sing from telegraph poles, fence posts and crop tops across arable farmland
Polygamous — males may mate with 3+ females simultaneously
Requires winter stubble for seed feeding — critical for overwintering survival
Large flocks in winter — formerly hundreds of birds, now typically small groups

Welfare Considerations

Corn bunting welfare across their annual cycle is compromised at every stage. Breeding welfare: the shift from spring to autumn sowing has removed the tall cereal crops with the weedy margins that corn buntings use for nesting. Winter welfare: loss of overwinter stubble following autumn and winter cultivation deprives birds of the seed resource they depend on. The cumulative effect of intensification — cleaner crops, faster cultivation, pesticide-reduced insect populations for chicks — has produced an 88% collapse. Agri-environment scheme management that provides overwinter stubble, beetle banks and cereal margins can produce measurable local recovery, but uptake has been insufficient at landscape scale.

What You Can Do

Support agri-environment schemes providing overwinter stubble on arable farms
Donate to RSPB farmland bird recovery programme
Advocate for mandatory set-aside requirements that benefit seed-eating birds
Record corn bunting sightings to BTO Breeding Bird Survey
Contact your MP about the urgent need for effective farming policy to reverse farmland bird decline