Countryside stewardship delivers cirl buntings (Emberiza cirlus) in Devon, UK Original Research Article

Enhancement of farmland biodiversity is a key objective of agri-environment schemes in Europe, and conservation of the rare and threatened cirl bunting (Emberiza cirlus) has been a key objective for the Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS) in south Devon, UK. Cirl bunting numbers increased by 83% on land entering CSS management agreements between 1992 and 1998, compared with an increase of just 2% on adjacent countryside not managed under CSS. The increase in cirl buntings on stewardship land was part of a wider regional increase in abundance rather than a redistribution of birds away from land not under stewardship. In 1998, 22% of all UK cirl buntings were breeding on land under CSS agreements and a further 16% of birds were within 0.5 km of land under stewardship. All but one of the 27 agreements that gained cirl buntings were within 2 km of cirl bunting breeding sites in 1992, with more distant agreements failing to be colonised even if they offered a range of potentially beneficial prescriptions. Agreements providing grass margins around arable fields, weedy winter stubbles and open patches of grassland next to scrub tended to gain additional cirl buntings. Grass margins and weedy winter stubbles constitute important food-rich habitats for cirl buntings and other farmland birds, and should be encouraged in future agri-environment agreements and schemes.