Winter is a harsh time for wildlife. As the days shorten and temperatures drop, birds and other animals can find it hard to find a reliable source of food in the countryside.
In particular, seed-eating species like yellowhammers, tree sparrows, linnets and reed buntings are finding it increasingly difficult to find sufficient quantities of seed which they need to survive.
There have been widespread declines in many of our most iconic farmland birds with a lack of food availability being one of the contributing factors. For example, the brightly coloured yellowhammer is now a red-listed species of conservation concern. This is extremely worrying, considering the species was common throughout much of our countryside as little as 40 years ago.
For the second year running farmers in County Down have rallied to support RSPB NI’s Save our Seedeaters (SoS) initiative and this winter they will once again be helping the birds that depend on farmed land for their survival.
More than 10 farmers and landowners, at their own expense, have sown wild bird cover– seed-rich crops that are left to stand throughout the winter and provide a valuable lifeline for farmland birds. Not just the seed eating birds such as yellowhammers but also barn owls that forage for small mammal prey in wild bird cover. In the past these measures have been funded through agri-environment schemes. As new funding opportunities through the Environmental Farming Scheme don’t start until the new year, the actions of farmers this winter is a lifeline for birds and also provides homes for hibernating insects.
Starting on 1 December some SoS farmers are creating farmland bird feeding stations with seed funded by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. The farmland bird feeding station are areas, usually along a laneway, where cereal grain is spread regularly during the winter. Farmers will spread around 25kg of oats, barley or wheat every week from the beginning of December to April to ensure that sufficient seed food is available for farmland birds throughout the winter.
Newtownards farmer Roy Lyttle, a former Wildlife-Friendly Farmer of the Year Award winner, has created a farmland bird feeding station on his land alongside a field of wild bird cover he established in spring:
“It gives me great pleasure to see species like yellowhammer and linnet using my land. I’m already seeing flocks of over 200 birds using the wild bird cover I’ve established and, along with the farmland bird feeding station, I hope to attract even more as the winter continues.”
“By continuing to sow wild bird cover or creating bird feeding stations, farmers are providing a vital lifeline to species that will struggle otherwise. This demonstrates the vital role that farmers play in helping some of our best loved wildlife and that undertaking small actions can make a big difference. The fact that many of these farmers are doing this without reward highlights how much they want to continue to see a countryside that is rich in wildlife and the role that they can play in achieving this”.