Farming and crofting families are being urged to help show how conservation efforts on their land are making a difference.
Land managers are being asked to count the bird species on their farms as part of a massive citizen science project.
The humble house sparrow just made it into the top five in Scotland in the 2024 count. Picture: Will George
The annual Big Farmland Bird Count has been providing data for the past decade which has helped provide details about which species are in the most trouble and how we can help them, and which are benefitting from conservation efforts.
The event is coordinated by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) and targets farmers, land managers, crofters, gamekeepers, wildlife rangers and foresters who care about wildlife conservation.
It is separate to the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch in that it focuses on managed land rather than domestic properties.
The 2024 census saw nearly 395,000 birds spotted across 1721 surveys UK wide. The most common counted species were starling, woodpigeon and fieldfare. A total 140 different species were recorded and of those, 27 were red-listed.
In Scotland there were 101 counts completed with 19,387 birds counted and 88 species recorded, of which 22 were red-listed. The five most common counted species in Scotland were woodpigeon, rook, starling, chaffinch and house sparrow.
The 2025 count starts on Friday, February 7 and runs for two weeks. GWCT hopes to make this year’s count bigger and better than ever and something in which all the family can be involved.
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To help younger bird spotters get interested and involved GWCT is making available some new easy-to-use guides and count sheets. These will be available on the Big Farmland Bird Count website.
Outgoing NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy said: “Scotland’s farmers and crofters have a fantastic story to tell on food production, lowering emissions and enhancing habitat and biodiversity. We need facts and figures to show to everyone the journey that we are on.
“Our farms and crofts are alive with nature and our stunning birdlife in Scotland is something to be celebrated. I would encourage as many farmers and crofters as possible to participate in the count, record how many bird species you spot on farm or croft this February and, importantly, submit your results to GWCT.”
As well as providing a snapshot of the bird population on UK farms each February, the count aims to raise awareness of the important role that farmers, crofters and other land managers play in the conservation of farmland birds.
UK farmland birds have declined by 63 per cent since 1970 and need help if we are going to reverse the trend. The key to doing this, and increasing biodiversity, is held by the people who are responsible for land used for agriculture – that’s some 72 per cent of the UK’s land.
Ross MacLeod, head of policy (Scotland), GWCT said: “The BFBC is the first and only UK-wide citizen science project to involve land managers in monitoring the state of farmland birds. Since the count started in 2014, it has given us a national snapshot of the state of nation when it comes to our farmland birds.
“Everyone can really make a difference by taking part. By spending just half an hour in one spot on your farm or shoot, counting the birds you see and submitting your results to the GWCT, the results help us build a national picture of which species are benefiting from conservation efforts, and which are most in need of help.”
Find out more about how to get involved at: www.bfbc.org.uk