Cirl buntings are rare farmland birds that have recovered strongly in south Devon through targeted agri-environment management, providing a model for evidence-based wildlife welfare improvement.
Cirl bunting welfare is intrinsically linked to the availability of farmland habitat features that modern agricultural intensification has eliminated across most of their former range. Winter stubble fields provide seed food essential for winter survival, and their loss to ploughing or improved grassland conversion creates food shortages that cause winter starvation. The loss of rough grassland and field margins with grasshoppers eliminates the invertebrate food that breeding females and chicks need in summer. The remarkable recovery of cirl buntings in Devon demonstrates that targeted habitat management can dramatically improve welfare outcomes for declining farmland birds at a population level.