Bird Aid, a West Oxfordshire based charity, and part of The Wychwood Project, helps to feed our declining farmland birds during the ‘hunger gap’ from January to early May.
Farmland bird populations have declined by almost half since 1970, due to a variety of factors, including changes in farming practices. The Bird Aid project aims to support feeding farmland birds through the winter, including tree sparrows, corn buntings, linnets and yellowhammers.
There are more than 12 feeding sites on local farms, including in Stonesfield and Charlbury with volunteers distributing seed and doing bird counts. Thank you to Dave Holloway for providing storage space for the seed.
Oilseed rape, millet and crushed wheat are fed on a daily basis, both spread on the ground and in hanging feeders. The birds have different requirements – yellowhammers need starch-based foods such as millet; linnets need oil-based foods such as rapeseed.
If you would like to be involved with supporting this project; counting birds (from November to March), or have a site that could be suitable for feeding farmland birds (from November to May) or maybe a space for growing wild flowers, please contact Judy at judy.anders66@gmail.com