The results of the 2026 Big Farmland Bird Count (BFBC) show that farms providing supplementary feeding are supporting higher numbers of many farmland bird species whose breeding populations are declining nationally.
Run by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) and sponsored by the NFU, the BFBC takes place each year in February and encourages farmers and land managers to record the bird species and numbers on their farms.
Since 2014 it has formed a national census of farmland birds. It also aims to raise awareness of the important role that land managers play in helping birds across the countryside, quantifies the impact of the conservation work that many farms and estates carry out, and highlights the crucial support agri-environment schemes provide.