Cirl Bunting Population Increasing
The cirl bunting population has increased by 25 per cent since 2003.
According to the latest figures published this week, the cirl bunting population has increased by 25 per cent since 2003, reaching 862 breeding pairs in 2009. Despite this increase the species remains confined to a small area of Devon and Cornwall.
Although their range once covered large parts of southern England and they could be heard singing from the trees of Wimbledon Common, cirl bunting populations declined massively in the second half of the 20th Century with just 118 pairs remaining in 1989.
The rise in numbers follows a joint campaign by the RSPB and Natural England to help local farmers manage their land in ways that provide year-round food supplies and breeding habitat for these threatened birds.
Livestock keepers are being urged to stay vigilant for Bluetongue (BTV-3) following confirmation of the disease in a ewe. The case, confirmed in Staffordshire on 23 June 2026, represents the first confirmed case of infection this summer.
