From wet grasslands and farmer-led conservation to thermal cameras and precision farming, farmland-bird protection is receiving attention in research, the media and popular television.
The following articles and viewing tip are not FARMBIRD publications, but they connect closely with the project’s work. Together, they show why habitat management, farmer knowledge and better monitoring must go hand in hand. FARMBIRD is testing these connections at pilot sites across North-West Europe, with the aim of turning reliable information into practical support for farmers, volunteers, conservationists and policymakers.
Creating wet places for meadow birds
In Dutch: More and more shallow-flooded grasslands for meadow birds
This Nature Today article explains how shallow-flooded grasslands—known in the Netherlands as plasdras—provide feeding, resting and meeting places for meadow birds. Solar-powered pumps can temporarily bring water onto suitable farmland, creating wet conditions without changing an entire polder.
The article reports that the Netherlands now has more than 1,000 of these sites. They attract breeding meadow birds as well as large numbers of migratory species. It also stresses that a wet field alone is not enough: surrounding grassland must provide safe nesting areas and should not be mown too early. (Nature Today)
This connects directly with FARMBIRD’s fieldwork. Monitoring can show not only whether birds visit a wet area, but also whether they nest successfully, where their chicks move and how the surrounding fields are used. That information can help farmers and land managers decide where water, longer grass or delayed mowing will have the greatest value.
Wet farming can support both birds and agricultural production
Bird numbers boosted on wetland farming sites, study finds
Research covered by The Independent compared Dutch sites used for paludiculture—farming on rewetted peat—with natural wetlands and conventionally drained grasslands.
The researchers recorded around three times as many birds on the wet-farming plots as on the drained agricultural grasslands. Bird numbers were comparable to those in the natural wetlands, and the paludiculture sites supported wetland species such as Reed Warblers, Reed Buntings and Sedge Warblers. The study also notes that the timing of harvesting remains important during the breeding season. (The Independent)
The story is relevant to FARMBIRD because it moves the discussion beyond a simple choice between farming and nature. It shows how alternative land management can continue to produce useful crops while restoring wetter conditions. Monitoring is then needed to measure which species benefit, whether they breed successfully and how management can be improved.
Stronger agri-environmental management for meadow birds
In Dutch: Meadow birds need more effective agri-environmental management
This Groen Kennisnet article focuses on the need to strengthen agricultural nature management for meadow birds. It is aimed particularly at dairy farmers, other agricultural professionals and policymakers, and directs readers towards further practical knowledge about meadow-bird and grassland management. (groenkennisnet.nl)
The connection with FARMBIRD is important: management schemes need to be based on what happens in the field. Information about nests, chicks, water levels, vegetation, mowing and predation can help assess whether a measure is working. Better monitoring should therefore not produce data for its own sake—it should lead to clearer advice and more effective support for farmers.
Farmland birds and innovation reach a wider audience
A very different viewing tip comes from Clarkson’s Farm. Season 5, including episode 7, places the everyday realities of farming before a large international audience.
The wider season brings bird conservationist Hannah Bourne-Taylor into the story to help explore the wild birds living on the farm. It also features modern agricultural developments, including an autonomous tractor, an automatic seeding robot, precision farming on a Dutch potato farm and a floating dairy farm in Rotterdam. (Wikipedia)
The programme’s connection with FARMBIRD is not that every new machine automatically benefits nature. Rather, it shows the questions that matter: Is a tool practical? Does it save time? Can it provide information a farmer can use? Does it fit the farm and its landscape?
FARMBIRD asks similar questions when testing drones, artificial intelligence, acoustic recorders, cameras and tracking systems. Technology is most valuable when it complements the experience of farmers, volunteers and field specialists—not when it attempts to replace them. The communication strategy therefore encourages demonstrations and real experiences instead of technology-first claims.
How dairy farmers make room for meadow birds
In Dutch: How dairy farmers create space for meadow birds
This Groen Kennisnet contribution focuses on the practical ways dairy farmers can provide space for meadow birds within a working agricultural business.
That farmer perspective is essential. Farmers know the history, water conditions, soil and day-to-day management of their land. Measures are more likely to work when that knowledge is combined with observations from volunteers, ecological expertise and accessible monitoring information.
FARMBIRD’s role is to help connect these different sources of knowledge. New tools can reveal nests, chicks, nocturnal predators or changes in vegetation that are difficult to observe through field visits alone. The information can then support conversations with farmers about measures that fit the birds, the landscape and the farm.
Different stories, one shared direction
These five links approach farmland-bird conservation from different angles. Some focus on water and habitat restoration. Others examine agricultural nature management, the choices made by dairy farmers or the potential of new technology.
Together, they underline a shared message: there is no single measure or device that will restore farmland-bird populations. Progress comes from combining suitable habitat, practical farming, careful timing, long-term monitoring and cooperation between the people who know and manage the landscape.
By watching more closely, acting more precisely and learning from one another across regions, we can build landscapes in which farming and farmland birds both have a future.
We Fly Together.
FARMBIRD is co-funded by the European Union through the Interreg North-West Europe programme.