This article was recently written for ‘ Palores’, the newsletter of the Cornwall Birdwatching and Preservation Society. Are you a member?

BACK FROM THE BRINK

A HISTORY OF THE CIRL BUNTING IN CORNWALL.

PART 1           THE 19^TH and 20^TH CENTURIES.

The first of this two part article examines the decline of the Cirl Bunting in Cornwall and later will report on the success of the re-introduction project in the county as part of the RSPB recovery programme.

The Cirl Bunting was formally widespread across much of southern England and Wales but declined in the second half of the 20^th century and is now one Britain’s rarest farmland birds. It is on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern in the UK having suffered a range contraction of over 50% and is one of the 25 bird species identified by the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

First discovered by George Montagu at Kingsbridge in Devon in the winter of 1800, the early status of Cirl Buntings is poorly documented.  In Cornwall it was said to be ‘not uncommon’ in the mid 19^th century and Rodd [1880] stated that ‘it is a common bird generally and particularly so in the neighbourhood of Penzance’. In 1892 M A Matthews remarked that ‘the Cirl Bunting was ‘common throughout Cornwall’ but surprisingly other authors make no mention of it. This suggests that the distribution was patchy and local; being common where breeding habitat, summer and winter feeding was suitable and may be explained as follows.

Cirl Buntings are fairly exacting in their requirement. In Devon they prefer dense hedges, patches of gorse, blackthorn and bramble scrub for nesting although Walpole-Bond [1938] lists hay ricks, rose bushes in gardens and ivy on walls as breeding sites. Cornish hedges, (stone faced banks topped with turf or rank vegetation) would be less attractive. Chicks are fed mainly on invertebrates, especially grasshoppers so tussocky grassland within 200m of the nest is necessary. After breeding the birds tend to gather in loose flocks, often with Yellowhammers or finches and feed on weedy arable stubbles. Spilt grain, especially barley, and an abundant supply of weed seeds are important if the birds are to survive the winter. As Cirls are usually sedentary, all these conditions are necessary within a local area. Where they occur the population can be quite dense, for example, in 2007 there were 23 pairs on 66ha of mixed Devon farmland managed under Countryside Stewardship.

There is little information from the early 20^th century although on a national scale the population probably began to decline from the 1930’s. [Evans 1997] Causes have been linked to changing farming practices such as the switch from spring to autumn sown cereals resulting in the loss of overwintering stubbles, the intensification of livestock farming resulting in a loss of invertebrates and the removal of hedgerows. In Cornwall the decline probably began a bit later. In 1943, T. J. Willcocks reported in the Cornwall Bird Report [CBR] that Cirl Buntings were ‘fairly plentiful around Wadebridge’ and there was no mention of a decline in the 1950’s. Perhaps the intensification of agriculture in Cornwall was less marked than in other parts of the country.

In the 1960’s the national population collapsed but in Cornwall it was still frequent in certain areas. The BTO Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland 1968 – 1972 located 20-30 pairs in 26 10km squares, over half of which were towards the south coast. There was confirmed breeding in 7 squares, probable breeding in 18 and possible breeding in 1 square. Table 1 summarises CBR data for the 1960’s.

Table 1 The Location of Cirl Buntings in Cornwall in the 1960s

Numbers continued to decline through the 1970’s. CBR listed 13 pairs in 1970, only 3 pairs in 1973 but recorded birds from 15 breeding areas in 1975, 10 sites in 1977, and 6 in 1979.

The data for the 20 years from 1980 -1999  is more comprehensive.

Isolated records notably from the Lizard and Trevose Head indicate that contrary to general opinion occasional passage birds pass through the county in April/ May and October/November. It is interesting to note that these are almost all males possibly prospecting new ranges. The spring records may be overshoots from the mostly migratory northern populations on the Continent and those in autumn linked to post-juvenile dispersal. The peaks in February and December are thought to be movements in response to cold weather.

. By 1980, breeding Cirl Buntings were more or less confined to the south coast between Rame Head and the Lizard and the north coast from Polzeath to Perranporth [Table 2]. The BTO national survey in 1982 located only 9 pairs in five 10km squares [Sitters 1985].

The 1990’s saw a continued range contraction and decline in numbers. There were records from thirteen 10km squares but breeding only from two, both on the south coast. Cirl Buntings maintained a tenuous hold in the Falmouth area and at St Keverne. With only a single record from this area in the 1980’s, the series of breeding records from this decade illustrates how Cirl Buntings micro-populations can either be overlooked, or establish themselves when conditions are favourable – be it only temporally. It also shows how vulnerable and unsustainable a small isolated population can be.  The last proven breeding in the county [prior to the 2006 re-introduction] was in 1994 although it’s possible that the odd pair were successful after then. Table 3 lists all the 1990 records.

By the 2000 millenium Cirl Buntings were almost certainly extinct as a breeding species in Cornwall. However in neighbouring Devon, the population was recovering due to the concerted efforts of Cirl Bunting Recovery Programme.

In the next issue the period from 2000 until the present will be examined together with a current assessment of the population in Cornwall as a result of the re-introduction programme.

Table 2    Cirl Bunting records in Cornwall 10km squares 1980-1989

Table 3  Cirl bunting records in Cornwall 10km squares 1990-1999.