Results revealed for 2016 Big Farmland Bird Count

 06:25 26 March 2016

Chris Hill

Threatened species are among the most commonly-seen birds in East Anglia, according to the results of the 2016 Big Farmland Bird Count (BFBC).

The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) launched the annual count in 2014 to highlight the positive work done by farmers and gamekeepers to help reverse the decline in farmland bird numbers.

This year, nearly 1,000 farmers across the country spotted 130 different species, which is the highest total so far. They included 25 species from the Red List for Birds of Conservation Concern, with six appearing among the top 25 most commonly-seen species: Fieldfares, house sparrows, starlings, yellowhammers, song thrushes and skylarks.

More than 100 different species of birds were spotted in Norfolk, across a huge area of nearly 63,000ha of land. Lapwings, starlings and linnets were in the top 10 most abundant birds seen in the county, spotted along with 17 other Red List species.

In Suffolk, fieldfares, yellowhammers and starlings were among the top 10 most abundant species seen on more than 22,000ha of land.

The GWCT’s head of development and training, Jim Egan, said: “Despite the horrible weather at the start of the count week, we’ve nearly doubled the total number of participants since the first year. It really does show that farmers have a long-term commitment to conservation management.”

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