Songbirds using crops planted on farmland as cover for game birds

Abstract

We counted songbirds in crops planted on shooting estates specifically for game management purposes on farmland in Britain and elsewhere in Europe. Winter game crops provide cover and feed areas for pheasants Phasianus colchicus and red-legged partridge Alectoris rufa, while summer game crops are designed to provide brood-rearing cover for these species. In central and southern England, 30 plots of winter game crops, either kale, quinoa or cereal up to 2 ha in area, and 30 adjacent arable-field plots, were surveyed for birds up to six times at monthly intervals during the winter 1997–1998. In the Scottish lowlands, six plots of summer game crops up to 4 ha in area, and adjacent arable fields were surveyed in summer 1999 or 2000. The winter game plots contained more than ten songbirds per hectare in most months, while the adjacent arable-field plots contained less than one. In all three winter game crop types, songbird numbers declined significantly in the second half of the winter while numbers in the arable fields did not. Of the 26 species recorded in the winter game crops, 10 have undergone rapid decline over the last 30 years. Considering these declining species alone, the winter game crops still contained more individuals than the adjacent arable fields throughout the winter. Densities in both the kale and quinoa were higher than in the cereal game crop. The six summer game crops sampled in mid-summer contained on average 2.9 songbirds per hectare, while the adjacent arable fields contained 0.4. Of the 14 species recorded in these summer game crops, eight have undergone rapid or moderate declines over the last 30 years. Although winter and summer game crops are planted in relatively small plots and hence concentrate birds, these plots are widely planted and our results suggest that they benefit birds on farmland.