According to a large citizen science dataset, UK farmland bird indicator species and other bird groups, are more likely to be found on farms with shoots than on otherwise similar farms
On average around 1500 farms across lowland UK take part in the GWCT Big Farmland Bird Count in spring each year. Alongside bird data based on a 30-minute survey of 2ha of farmland, participants are asked a group of other questions including, for the last three years only, whether there is a gamebird shoot or not on the farm. The dataset is created from online forms and is generally of low quality including missing information and suspect bird ID. We suggest this does not cause bias in our investigation. The dataset does not include a site identifier, so we have analysed data year by year, and the caveats around that in interpretation are discussed. The standard 2ha survey patch on each farm is not selected randomly; larger farms might have more choice and shoots tended to be on larger farms. Removing the effect of farm size in analysis, as well as other factors including the use of Agri Environment Scheme (AES) options, our bird data suggest that farms with a shoot, have on average around 10% greater bird species richness than otherwise similar farms. This includes the UK Farmland Bird Index (FBI) species group and Red and Amber listed species. Raptor species were 20% more commonly encountered on shoots than non-shoots. Previous studies have shown several potential drivers of this, and we suggest the provision of game crops on most shoots that release gamebirds is a contributor. We estimate that game management, which includes the planting of game crops, is undertaken on around 20% of lowland UK farmland. Using this figure, according to our bird results, overall and FBI species richness would be about 2% lower across all of lowland UK farmland without game management. This does not include any benefit to birds associated with the use of AES options on shoots. Bearing in mind the limitations of the data and the analysis, our investigation suggests the privately funded contribution made by game management will be contributing to the maintenance of farmland bird populations on farms and, potentially, reducing the national FBI rate of decline.