This large bunting with streaked buff-brown feathers often dangles its legs when it flies and is usually seen perched on a fence post or wire. It has a metallic call that sounds a bit like jangling keys.
Corn Buntings were once common in lowland farmland throughout Britain and Ireland but are now on the UK Red List, having declined by 83% between 1967 and 2022. They’re now found in Scotland in isolated populations in the east of Scotland around Aberdeenshire, Moray, Angus and Fife, with very small numbers around Inverness. They’re extinct in Ireland and no longer regularly breed in Wales. Some populations in England have declined as well. About 900 breeding territories are in Scotland out of about 11,000 for the whole of the UK.
Corn Bunting is on the Scottish Biodiversity List, which identifies the species that are of the most importance to biodiversity in Scotland. It is also on the UK Birds of Conservation Concern Red List.
Photos: David Palmer and Tom Marshall for rspb-images.com
Illustration: Mike Langman for rspb-images.com
Action Needed
We need more targeted financial support and farming advice for nature-friendly farming measures that we know help Corn Buntings, such as later harvesting and leaving stubble on fields. This support must be available on a landscape scale to reach a high enough proportion of the Corn Bunting population. In Scotland there’s evidence that well targeted funding alongside specialist advice, can led to increases in numbers. In Fife numbers have risen from 106 calling males to 426, between 2014 and 2024, a result of this partnership approach.
Threats
Changes to farming practices since about 1970 have had severe negative impacts for Corn Buntings. They have a late nesting season preferring to nest in growing crops and silage grassland which means their breeding success can be heavily affected by early harvests. In addition, the lack of cover provided by uniform, monoculture crops, and loss of over-winter stubble has increased predation and reduced the amount of food available during the colder months. They eat seeds and insects which have been affected by the use of pesticides and fertilisers.
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