Corn buntings are a national conservation priority. Corn buntings are now very rare in Cornwall – lost from the Lizard and Land’s End peninsulas in the 1980s and 1990s, their range is restricted to a northern coastal area between Newquay and Pentire with only 50 singing males recorded in 2002. The nearest corn buntings are north of a line between Bristol and Weymouth.
Action was essential to retain corn buntings in Cornwall and a project started in July 2001. Using agri-environment schemes, farmers are encouraged to provide crops for winter food, safe nesting areas and reduce sprays to ensure a plentiful supply of insects for corn bunting chicks. By 2003, most of the farms with corn buntings were signed up to provide management through stewardship schemes. By 2008, this seems to have worked with the population now stable and possibly even increasing slightly.
Corn buntings are ground nesting and need a mosaic of habitats to provide different nesting options in different years in response to weather conditions affecting crop growth. Both cereal and grass fields are used by corn buntings and they will also nest in low gorse bushes along the coastal strip if these areas are not disturbed.
I feel so privileged to have seen these birds whilst here in West Pentire in Cornwall.
