Corn bunting  (Miliaria calandra)

Although common in southern Europe, the corn bunting is declining throughout its northern range. This is especially true in the UK, where it has suffered a 76% decline in its breeding population between 1968 and 1991. The breeding range extends from Orkney and the Outer Hebrides to southern and eastern England, but its distribution is patchy and it is now uncommon or absent from many areas.

This is a lowland bird of open arable and mixed farmland. The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) estimated that in the early 1990's there were only 20,000 breeding territories in the UK, highlighting the extent by which species has declined.