I simply haven’t the energy for a 20 post thread so just this:

The index no longer includes many farmland species.

Why? Because they are now so scarce that the CBS survey models cannot provide accurate monitoring data.

Eg. Curlew, Corncrake, Lapwing, Partridge
@BirdsMatter_ie https://twitter.com/ifamedia/status/1361711263663980551

And the index is flattened data that doesn’t capture huge shifts in trends amongst specialists.

Take yellowhammer.

It’s breeding population has increased 4.4% in last 18 years. Good news

But.

It’s range has contracted by 33.4% in the last 25 years (58.1% since 1972)

Some species have gone off the charts in terms of success.

Blackcaps have increased by 1,689.3% in the past 18 years!

That’s mega!!!

Thanks climate change

Another archetypal High Nature Value species- the Skylark.

How do you know you’re in HNV farmland? You can hear a skylark.

18 year population trend is -18.4 %

A range contraction of 18.2% in 25 years.

Last but by no means least:

The smart, clever and highly adaptable generalist- the Hooded Crow.

They have increased by 42.1% in 18 years.

Good for them.

Plenty of real estate in the fragmented countryside with increased edge effect making dinner only a flap or two away

So, all in all, the farmland bird index shouldn’t really be rolled out as a pat on the back for “biodiversity well done” when the devil is in the detail.

Many farmers I work with do incredible work. Above and beyond expectations.

But it pains them to see it undone elsewhere.

And might I add one more thing.

Don’t use this thread to “farmer bash”.

Farming is as diverse a community as farmland birds.

Farmers are not an index comprised of homogenized data. We are at risk losing High Nature value farming traditions, and with that, our biodiversity.