Foraging opportunities for farmland birds in and around Miscanthus and Short Rotation Coppice biomass crops

Abstract

An increase in biomass production in the UK could pose a threat to farmland birds, via a decline in availability and accessibility of foraging resource. Alternatively, the low-input management of biomass crops may provide benefits over more intensively managed arable crops. We investigated the foraging potential of biomass crops by examining the faecal components of yellowhammers nesting in boundaries of Miscanthus and short rotation coppice (SRC) willow fields. More invertebrates were found in SRC crops than in Miscanthus, and this was reflected in the faeces of yellowhammer chicks nesting in the boundaries of SRC and Miscanthus fields. Faeces collected from Miscanthus boundaries contained more Coleoptera than was found in the field, a pattern that was not true of SRC samples. SRC may therefore provide a better foraging resource for nesting birds than Miscanthus; birds nesting in Miscanthus boundaries may thus have to supplement chick diet with food found elsewhere.