Barn Owl

THE barn owl has won a ballot to find Britain's favourite farmland bird in a poll carried out by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Sadly, the vote comes at a time when its numbers are in decline thanks, in no small measure, to the fashion for converting farm barns into residential homes - a craze which has caused much controversy in the Yorkshire Dales in recent years.

Numbers of barn owls have dropped from 12,000 pairs in England and Wales in the 1930s to fewer than 4,000 in the late 1990s when the last count took place. Breeding success is still down, says the society which blames the decline on bran conversions and loss of habitat.

It is the first time a poll has been held to compare the popularity of farmland birds, most of which have suffered heavy losses in the last forty years. The skylark finished a close second to the barn owl,; lapwings were third and yellowhammers fourth.

Dr Sue Armstrong Brown, Head of Countryside Policy at the RSPB, said: "Farmland birds are popular for their songs, their dramatic courtship displays and, in the case of the barn owl, their stealth, mystery and beauty.

"But they have been declining for some years and we staged the vote as a fun way to draw attention to their plight. Progress has been made through green farming schemes and the work of conservation-minded farmers, but there is still a long way to go before farmland birds are out of trouble."

Increasing the incentives available to farmers to keep land fallow and retain grassland for hunting barn owls will go a long way

Sue Armstrong Brown - RSPB

The 19 farmland birds used as a guide by the government to judge the health of the environment have dropped overall by more than 40 per cent since 1970. Concern was heightened last week when the EU shelved for a year the requirement for farmers to leave some of their land, called set-aside, free of food crops.

Species such as skylarks, woodlarks and linnets have thrived on set-aside because of the profusion of weeds and insects no longer found in arable crops. The RSPB is urging the UK government to boost funds for green farming schemes before set-aside is abolished permanently, to replicate its environmental benefits.

Dr Armstrong Brown said: "The loss of set-aside could severely dent the progress made towards helping birds like the skylark, lapwing and yellowhammer. Increasing the incentives available to farmers to keep land fallow and retain grassland for hunting barn owls will go a long way towards meeting the government's target for helping these scarce species recover."