Farmers across UK count 460,000 birds as part of annual initiative

The Big Farmland Bird Count has revealed the extensive conservation work undertaken by farmers, as a total of 149 species were recorded across more than 1.5 million acres.

More than 1,700 farmers took part in the annual initiative, which ran during February, with results showing that more than 460,000 birds were recorded.

These included 33 species from the 'red' list birds and 47 from the 'amber' list.

The majority (67%) of farmer participants saw a blue tit, while 56% saw a buzzard and 42% saw a wren.

Birds seen by less than 1% of participants included the elusive jack snipe and bittern, the rare and declining willow tit, and the red grouse, known to inhabit the uplands.

The annual nationwide survey, organised by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), provides a snapshot of the health of the UK's farmland birds.

It asks farmers and land managers to spend 30 minutes recording the bird species they see on their land.

Since the first Big Farmland Bird Count in 2014, more than 11,000 counts have been carried out by people working on the land.

The NFU, which sponsored the count for the fifth year running, said the the results provided "a fantastic and important snapshot of the range of wildlife on British farms."

The union's president Minette Batters said it was "great to see this work paying off".

"Farmers are the custodians of the British countryside and are working to boost biodiversity, create habitats for wildlife and provide additional feeding for farmland birds," she said.

The results also showed that many of the farmers who participated are involved in landscape-scale conservation projects such as farmer clusters.

The number of participants in some form of agri-environment agreement has risen from 37% last year to 62%, with 47% providing extra seed for birds including wild bird seed mixes, scatter feeding or hoppers.

Dr Roger Draycott, from the GWCT, welcomed this year's results: “The fact that the count is still going strong after 10 years highlights the passion that farmers have for the birds on their farms."