6 May
2019
Farmers
in North Yorkshire are being encouraged to create habitats in a bid to save the
turtle dove.
Population
of the small bird has declined in the UK by 95% since the 1970s, according to
the RSPB.
The North
York Moors National Park Authority, which is running the project, said there
were fewer than 100 nesting birds in Yorkshire.
Project
Officer Richard Baines said: "We've now got to a point where we're
rescuing the species."
The North
Yorkshire Turtle Dove Project, which involves several organisations including
the RSPB, Forestry Commission and Scarborough Borough Council, is training land
owners and encouraging them to plant specific seeds to increase areas of
habitat for the birds.
Turtle
doves feed on seeds including those of fumitory, knotgrass, chickweed, oilseed
rape and cereal grains.
"We
want farmers to sow a special seed mix by broadcasting it on a special plot
they've created, which will grow specific flowers that will come up the following
year and provide fantastic food for turtle doves," said Mr Baines.
The RSPB
said a lack of seed food on farmland in the summer and habitat loss had
resulted in a reduction of nesting attempts during the birds' breeding season.
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