Which Bird Species Tell You Most About Farmland Biodiversity?

New project study identifies set of indicator bird species that can simplify biodiversity monitoring for farmers and facilitators...

Monitoring farmland birds is one of the most established ways to track the health of agricultural landscapes. But current breeding bird survey methods require observers to identify a large number of species by sight and sound, using complex survey protocols that demand significant training and time. For farmer clusters seeking to monitor their own biodiversity, this presents a real barrier. A new project-funded study published in Ecology and Evolution asks whether a small number of indicator species could give farmers and facilitators a reliable picture of farmland bird diversity without needing to identify every species present.

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How were the indicators identified?

Researchers from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust and The James Hutton Institute used breeding bird survey data collected between 2021 and 2024 on two FRAMEwork farmer clusters — one in England (Cranborne Chase) and one in Scotland (Buchan). Using data from 2021 to 2023, they applied statistical methods including ordination analysis and generalised linear mixed models to identify which species correlated most strongly with the abundance and richness of specialist farmland birds, and with the wider bird community as a whole. They then validated their findings against independent 2024 survey data to test whether the indicators held up.

What did the study find?

Corn Bunting, Linnet, and Skylark emerged as the species most strongly correlated with specialist farmland bird abundance. Of these, Linnet stood out: it showed a significant positive relationship with both specialist farmland bird abundance and species richness in both farmer clusters — making it the most consistent single indicator across the two very different landscapes studied. For the total bird community, Goldfinch showed a significant positive relationship with both overall species richness and abundance in both clusters. In England, Stock Dove was also identified as a significant indicator of total bird abundance.

The practical significance is clear. Rather than asking practitioners to learn dozens of species and master complex survey techniques, these findings suggest that monitoring a handful of readily identifiable birds can provide a reliable proxy for the broader health of the farmland bird community. This makes bird monitoring far more accessible for farmers, cluster facilitators, and citizen scientists - precisely the audiences that FRAMEwork’s monitoring tools are designed for.

Where can I read the paper?

The full open-access paper is available from Ecology and Evolution.

For more on FRAMEwork’s approach to farmland biodiversity monitoring, see our publications on standardised monitoring protocols and monitoring tools for different practitioners.

Browse all FRAMEwork publications at framework-biodiversity.eu/publications.