Cirl bunting advisory sheet - RSPB

a million
voices for
nature
© Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
The Cirl Bunting Project is
part of Action for Birds in
England, a conservation
partnership between
Natural England and the
RSPB
Cirl bunting distribution in the UK in 2009
FARMING FOR BIRDS
Cirl bunting
Cirl buntings were nearly lost from the UK in the latter part of the
20th century and are now almost entirely restricted to parts of
south Devon. Their decline was associated with changes in farming
practices, particularly the decline in the growing of spring-sown
cereal crops and the consequent loss of weedy winter stubbles.
Positive land management by farmers, the RSPB and other
conservation organisations, using government-funded agrienvironment
schemes has, however, increased the population from
118 pairs in 1989 to more than 860 pairs in 2009. This is a fantastic
success story but the birds are still vulnerable as there has been
only limited range expansion. Cirl buntings continue to depend on
sympathetic land management.
A reintroduction project is underway to establish a self-sustaining
population in suitable habitat outside of Devon and cirl buntings
are now breeding again in Cornwall.
Feed on any remaining seeds in weedy stubbles
and field margins. They will also eat food
put out for stock, often flocking,
sometimes with other buntings
and finches.
Birds pair up and start
looking for nest sites.
Male cirl bunting. Cirl buntings are sedentary, sparrow-sized birds, found in extensively managed, mixed farmland.
1st broods
WHAT DO CIRL BUNTINGS NEED?
Nesting habitat
Cirl buntings nest in dense cover provided
by thick hedgerows or scrub: blackthorn,
hawthorn, bramble and gorse provide
ideal sites. They can breed late, so cutting
hedges before mid September can destroy
nests.
Summer food (invertebrates)
Cirl buntings need invertebrates,
especially grasshoppers and crickets to
feed to their growing chicks. These are
found in unimproved or rough grassland
2nd broods
and field margins, particularly where
tussocky grasses such as cock’s-foot
provide over-wintering habitat for insects.
Winter food (small seeds)
Low input spring barley, followed by overwintered
stubbles with plenty of broadleaved
weeds such as fat hen, chickweed
and annual meadow-grass are ideal.
Fallow land and field margins also provide
foraging opportunities, as can over-winter
feeding of stock with grain or hay.
ANNUAL LIFECYCLE OF A CIRL BUNTING
January February March April May June July August September October November December
A long breeding season, nesting in thick hedgerows or scrub. Require protection from
hedgerow and field margin management. Feed on invertebrates, particularly grasshoppers
and crickets found in unimproved pastures and other rough grassland.
3rd broods
Start to flock up - may be in
mixed flocks. Feed on spilt grain
and small seeds in weedy stubbles
and other seed-rich sites.

HOW CAN I ENCOURAGE CIRL BUNTINGS?
Mixed farming
A mosaic of small, rolling grass and arable
fields, divided by thick hedgerows with
pockets of dense scrub, provides the ideal
conditions for cirl buntings. Nesting
habitat, summer invertebrate food and
winter seed food should all be provided
within a small area because of their
sedentary nature. They usually forage
within 250m of their nests and in winter
rarely travel more than 2km to find weedy
stubbles.
Much of the management cirl buntings
need can be funded through agrienvironment
schemes.
Nesting habitat
• ELS OELS HLS Trim hedges as
late as possible in the winter and
ideally in January or February. Rotate
management around the landholding.
• HLS Restore hedgerows through
planting, coppicing or laying.
Summer food
• ELS OELS HLS Create wide,
• ELS OELS HLS Low-input spring
tussocky buffer strips, field margins
and field corners in arable fields.
barley followed by open, weedy, overwintered
stubble. Leave fields of overwintered
stubbles (particularly barley)
unmanaged until end of March to
maximise seed availability for birds.
• ELS OELS HLS Create/maintain
rough or unimproved pasture with low
inputs and ideally graze with cattle.
Summer cattle grazing will create a
varied sward rich in invertebrates.
• ELS OELS Leave six metre buffer
strips uncut around improved
grasslands.
• ELS HLS Avoid using broad
spectrum insecticides in cereals after
15 March, ideally for the whole crop
but, if not, conservation headlands can
work well.
• ELS HLS The extended winter
stubble option will provide useful
summer foraging habitat.
Winter food
• ELS OELS HLS Create areas of
barley-based wild bird seed mixtures in
the spring. The crop needs to have an
open structure to allow the birds to
forage.
• ELS HLS Maintain or increase
areas of low-input arable cropping.
PRIORITY ACTION
• Ensure weedy barley stubbles are left
over winter, ideally until the end of
March, to provide a seed food
source.
• Maintain extensively managed
grassland with a varied sward
structure and field margins for
summer invertebrate food (and
important over-wintering sites for
insects). Low-intensity cattle grazing
can create ideal conditions.
• Maintain tall, thick hedgerows and
patches of scrub for nesting.
Manage on a rotation in winter so
there is always some mature habitat
available and not all hedges or scrub
areas on the farm are trimmed or cut
in the same year. Cutting hedges
only every two or three years is best
for wildlife.
• Summer fallows are an excellent
source of insects.
Provide suitable habitats for cirl buntings
through Environmental Stewardship
agreements. The cirl bunting is a target
species for Higher Level Stewardship.
• HLS Maintain or create areas of
scrub and open up very dense scrub.
KEY Cirl bunting habitat © Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
ELS = Entry Level Stewardship OELS = Organic Entry Level Stewardship HLS = Higher Level Stewardship
For further information on managing your land for cirl buntings and other farmland birds, please contact:
The RSPB/Natural England Cirl Bunting Project,
Keble House, Southernhay Gardens,
Exeter, Devon EX1 1NT
01392 432691
www.rspb.org.uk/farming
The production of this leaflet was
funded by Devon County Council
See also the RSPB advisory sheets on:
• Over-wintered stubble
• Low-input cereals
• Arable crops on livestock farms
• Buffer strips on cultivated land
• Buffer strips on grassland
• Hedgerow management
• Scrub management
• Grazed pasture
• Hay and silage meadows
• Wild bird seed mixtures
• Farmland bird feeding stations
For answers to all your farm wildlife enquiries,
visit www.farmwildlife.info
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity: England and Wales no. 207076, Scotland no. SC037654.
00437
February 2010