GWCT urges help for farmland birds

With the rise in wheat prices, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust has urged landowners and managers to continue feeding all birds into the early spring.

In a letter to the Shooting Times, GWCT’s press and publications manager James Sawyer said: “It is concerning to see the rise in wheat prices hitting shoots in the pocket, but it is important that we don’t let it impact farmland birds.

“As custodians of the countryside, one vital role that shoots can play is to continue feeding over winter.

“The ‘hungry gap’, when seeds and grains are scarce in late winter, can have a devastating impact on those remaining gamebirds and many other seed-eating farmland birds.

“Whilst it isn’t cheap, keeping your feeders topped up over winter offers a vital lifeline to yellowhammers, dunnocks and many more species that are suffering elsewhere. Please do what you can.”