Bird life at CAFRE

Date published: 27 February 2025

Nicola Warden, Senior Biodiversity Technologist at CAFRE, remarked that this baseline report has provided CAFRE with valuable information on the range of bird species that nest, rest or forage across the lowland farms. The most notable finding from the survey is the identification of a breeding pair of Tree Sparrow which nested in the cavity of an old tree. Stephen Magennis, Conservation Adviser for CLMS RSPB (NI) commented, “finding a Tree Sparrow on farmland is a significant discovery, Tree Sparrows are a red listed species and have suffered a decline of 93% between 1970 and 2008.”

Nicola stated that, “different bird species require different habitats to either nest, rest or forage within.  Across the CAFRE lowland farms, there are a range of habitats including, hedgerows, broadleaf woodland, mature treelines, wetlands, arable margins, rough grass margins and agroforestry. This range of habitats has allowed a high number of different bird species to be identified as using the site, shown in Table 1. The table indicates the number of red or amber listed species present. Species on these lists are at risk or have suffered significant declines to their population.”

Table 1: Breeding Bird Survey Results across the three lowland farms

Nicola added, “to give an example of the different species that were identified, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Wren and Dunnocks were located along hedgerows and using the field boundaries, Buzzards and Jays were located using areas of woodland and mature tree lines. Areas of wetlands have been favoured by Reed Bunting and Sedge Warbler while old stone farm buildings and archways create nesting habitats for House Martin and House Sparrows.”

Nicola commented on what CAFRE have been doing to increase the biodiversity on the farms, “in recent years, CAFRE have not been cutting hedges every year but rather allowing suitable internal hedges to grow taller and wider to be cut in a rotation, once every 3 years. This management technique allows for berries to be available during the winter and good habitats for nesting the following spring.”

Nicola continued, “In the arable and grassland sub-unit there has been a focus on creating habitats to showcase the benefits that these can have. The sub-unit is a lot smaller in size compared to the dairy or beef and sheep centres, yet it has roughly the same number of species using the site. Where possible, having a mix of arable and grassland on your farm will create another habitat for different bird species. Having some arable fields allows for arable margins or winter stubble to form a habitat.”

Nicola concluded, “although this report identifies a lot of good work already being completed across the CAFRE lowland farms there is always some room for improvement.” Nicola discusses the areas for improvement below:

• Lapwing Fallow Plots: Lapwings are a breeding wader bird that nest on areas of bare earth. To encourage more lapwings to nest on the farm, CAFRE are to establish lapwing fallow plots. These plots can be established in both arable and grassland fields, the ground is cultivated in January or February when lapwings are prospecting for a nesting site and left untouched until after 15^th June when the chicks should have fledged.
• Wild Bird Cover: Yellowhammer, Tree Sparrow and Linnet are three of the most threatened farmland bird species commonly associated with hedgerows and arable land. To provide a foraging habitat for these species, CAFRE will establish areas of wild bird cover, this in conjunction with the current hedgerow management could offer these birds both nesting and foraging sites.
• Swift boxes and callers: Swifts prefer to nest within old stone farm buildings, unfortunately with more modern buildings, the available nest sites are limited. To attract swifts to nest on the farm, swift boxes and callers can be installed. The caller attracts the swift to the vicinity where boxes are installed to provide everything a swift needs to nest within. The bird survey identified that swifts were regularly seen feeding across the fields at the dairy centre, but they were not using the farm to nest or breed within. This indicates that there is a good food source available in the form of insects but there are limited nesting opportunities for them.