With February now in sight, the Farmers’ Union of Wales is once again encouraging farmers in Wales to get behind the Big Farmland Bird Count, by spending 30 minutes recording the farmland birds they see on their land.

The initiative celebrates its 12th anniversary this year, and provides an opportunity to construct a snapshot of the health of our cherished farmland birds across Wales and the UK.

With almost 90% of Wales’ land used for agricultural purposes, how farmers manage their land is a vital contribution towards supporting biodiversity, with this survey therefore providing an opportunity to highlight the good work many farmers already do to support nature and the environment.

Last year’s count saw encouraging levels of participation, a total of 35 Welsh farmers, estates and land managers took part, collectively surveying 14,152 acres of farmland.

The results told an interesting story, with participants recording a total of 4,565 birds, belonging to 81 species, including 1,784 counts of red-listed birds, among which were yellowhammer, linnet, and skylark. More widely across the UK a total of 352,647 birds, belonging to 125 species, were recorded across 796,106 acres of farmland by 1,332 farmers and land managers. There were notable decreases in sightings of some species, including red-listed fieldfares which were down 52%, while on a positive note, sightings of amber-listed kestrels had increased by 182%.

As well as providing a valuable insight into the state of nature on our farms, the Count also provides an opportunity to highlight what can be done by farmers to help farmland birds survive this difficult time of year so that the breeding populations are increased. Such simple actions include; planting and looking after hedgerows, creating and keeping wide field margins, as well as providing feeders with seeds during late winter and early spring to help birds at a time of year when food can be scarce.

The annual UK wide count, run by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) will take place between 6-22 February 2026, with farmers encouraged for one day to spend about 30 minutes recording the species and number of birds seen on one particular area of the farm.

For more information on how to take part, and to download your own count sheets, go to the Big Farmland Bird Count website: www.bfbc.org.uk/