Farmland birds cornered by agriculture and predators | Inland

Especially birds hatching their eggs in pastures or fields have a hard time. They are producing fewer and fewer chicks that leave the nest alive. This is mainly due to predators and agriculture.

The statisticians have studied twelve species that are common on farmland. Black-tailed godwit, lapwing, oystercatcher, shoveler, redshank and curlew usually build their nests in the meadow or on fields. The barn swallow, mocking bird, tree sparrow, starling, little owl and kestrel do this in thickets or on farmyards.

Especially the birds that brood in the pasture are raising fewer and fewer chicks. In 2019, a chick certainly left the nest alive in 40 percent of the cases, compared to 60 percent in 2012. For birds that breed in dormant crops or on farmyards, this percentage has been stable at around 80 for years.

When looking at the percentage of birds reaching adulthood, it can be seen that all of these bird populations have shrunk over the past twenty years. Viewed in this way, it has been especially bad in recent years with the birds that build their nests on fields.

The researchers only have data on agricultural areas where farmers have made agreements about nest protection. “So that really does say that things are going less well,” says agricultural economist Cor Pierik of Statistics Netherlands. Birds in other agricultural areas without nest protection are likely to be even more endangered.

That the birds in the pasture have such a hard time, according to Pierik, is because they are more vulnerable. They are more affected by agricultural activities such as mowing and are also easier to approach in open fields by predators such as foxes or crows.

–