Early results from the FARMBIRD pilot in Flanders show how wetter grasslands can create valuable breeding and feeding habitat for farmland birds – while new monitoring technology helps us understand what is happening without disturbing them.
In the Oudlandpolder in West Flanders, water is returning to the landscape – and birds are responding.
Over recent months, our FARMBIRD partner VLM (Flemish Land Agency) has been monitoring breeding and migratory birds on seven grassland plots around Klemskerke, Vijfwege, Houtave and Zuienkerke. The first results are promising, with Black-tailed Godwits, Northern Lapwings, Redshanks and several other species making use of the rewetted areas.
It is a practical example of what FARMBIRD is about: bringing together habitat management, field knowledge and innovative monitoring to better understand what farmland birds need.
Making space for water – and birds
On the seven pilot plots, water levels were temporarily raised to create wet areas, shallow pools and wetter depressions within the grasslands.
These differences in water level and vegetation create a more varied landscape. For birds, that means different places to feed, rest, hide and breed.
And the birds quickly found them.
Nests, eggs, chicks and recently fledged young were recorded at several locations. On one plot, four Black-tailed Godwit nests were found, each containing four eggs. At another location, an exceptional Godwit clutch of five eggs was recorded.
Northern Lapwings, Redshanks, Avocets and Shelducks were also observed using the pilot areas.
These are early results, but they show how relatively targeted changes in water management can help create the conditions farmland birds are looking for during the breeding season.
A welcome stop along the flyway
The value of the wetter grasslands does not stop after the breeding birds arrive.
One of the plots near Zuienkerke developed into a particularly busy feeding and resting area for migratory waders and waterbirds during spring migration.
Observers recorded 157 Ruffs and 14 Wood Sandpipers, alongside species including Greenshanks, Grey Plovers and even Spoonbills.
For birds travelling along their migration routes, suitable places to stop, feed and recover are essential. The Oudlandpolder pilot therefore shows how local habitat measures can have a value that reaches far beyond the immediate area.
That wider connection is important to FARMBIRD. Farmland birds do not stop at regional or national borders. Protecting them means learning from different landscapes and sharing that knowledge across North-West Europe.
Looking from above without disturbing what is below
Understanding whether habitat measures are working requires good monitoring.
But finding a nest in a large grassland area traditionally means spending considerable time in the field – and entering the habitat can itself cause disturbance.
VLM is therefore also testing drones equipped with thermal cameras as part of FARMBIRD. Differences in temperature can help locate nests from the air, allowing researchers to focus their observations without having to walk through large sections of the field.
During the first test flights, nests of Black-tailed Godwits and Northern Lapwings were successfully detected.
The technology does not replace people or their knowledge of the landscape. Instead, it gives farmers, conservationists and researchers another way to see what is happening and to make monitoring more targeted.
That is exactly the role technology should play within FARMBIRD: helping us watch more closely and act more precisely.
From protecting nests to helping chicks survive
Finding and protecting a nest is only the beginning.
The period after hatching remains one of the biggest challenges for many farmland birds. According to VLM, current chick survival can be too low to maintain stable populations.
That is why habitat diversity matters.
Wet areas can provide feeding opportunities, while differences between shorter vegetation, taller grass and rougher field margins can give chicks both access to food and places to hide. Herb-rich field margins can offer additional food and cover.
Together with well-timed land management, these measures can help create a landscape in which birds have more opportunities throughout their breeding cycle.
And this is where better monitoring becomes particularly valuable: not simply counting birds, but learning where they go, where chicks survive and how habitat management influences their chances.
Learning together across North-West Europe
The Oudlandpolder is one piece of a much bigger FARMBIRD story.
Across our pilot regions, farmers, conservationists, volunteers, researchers and public authorities are testing different ways to monitor and support farmland birds. Drones, thermal cameras, acoustic sensors, tracking devices, satellite imagery and AI can help us reveal things that were previously difficult to see.
But technology alone is not the answer.
The real value comes when better information is combined with local knowledge and practical land management – and when lessons from one region can help people working in another.
The first results from the Oudlandpolder give us another promising example to learn from.
Farmland birds cross borders. So do we.
We Fly Together.
Source: vilt.be