Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra
Breeding distribution change
Seriously decreased resident, but still common on Marlborough Downs and Salisbury Plain
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Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2013
Atlas species lists
- Breeding distribution 1995–2000
- Summer abundance 1995–2000
- Winter distribution 1995–2000
- Winter abundance 1995–2000
- Breeding distribution 2007–2012
- Summer abundance 2007–2012
- Winter distribution 2007–2012
- Winter abundance 2007–2012
- Breeding distribution change
- Summer abundance change
- Winter distribution change
- Winter abundance change
More Corn Bunting maps
- Breeding distribution 1995–2000
- Summer abundance 1995–2000
- Winter distribution 1995–2000
- Winter abundance 1995–2000
- Breeding distribution 2007–2012
- Summer abundance 2007–2012
- Winter distribution 2007–2012
- Winter abundance 2007–2012
- Breeding distribution change
- Summer abundance change
- Winter distribution change
- Winter abundance change
More maps for this atlas
Map explanation
This map shows where changes occurred in the breeding season distribution of the species in Wiltshire between 1995-2000 and 2007-2012, as revealed by the fieldwork for Birds of Wiltshire (Wiltshire Ornithological Society 2007) and the shared fieldwork for Bird Atlas 2007-2011 (BTO 2013) and for Wiltshire Tetrad Atlas 2007-2012.
Gains and improvements
Status
Nos tetrads
Absent to present
58
6%
Present to breeding
32
3%
Absent to breeding
34
4%
No change
Status
Nos tetrads
Present in both
35
4%
Breeding in both
75
8%
Losses and declines
Status
Nos tetrads
Present to absent
68
7%
Breeding to present
51
6%
Breeding to absent
34
4%
Corn Buntings breed from the Canaries and northwest Africa north through much of southern and western Europe to the southern shores of the Baltic, thence east through south Russia, Asia Minor and parts of the Middle East to Iran, Kazakhstan and northwest China. In Europe they are still common in the south but have declined drastically in countries such as Denmark, Germany - and Great Britain.
In Britain Corn Buntings' numbers fell by 60% between 1970 and 1990 and by a further 24% between 1995 and 2018. Bird Atlas 2007-11 recorded range reductions of 56% in the British breeding season since the 1968-72 Breeding Atlas and of 27% in the winter since the 1981-84 Winter Atlas. Losses in southern Scotland, northern England and the English midlands have reduced the remaining populations largely to discrete areas, in particular of chalk grasslands.
In the 19th century Corn Buntings were common and widespread in Wiltshire and they have continued to prosper on the county's chalk uplands whilst declining elsewhere. Birds of Wiltshire recorded them in 295 tetrads, with breeding in 160. WTA2 recorded them in 285 tetrads, with breeding in 141.
References
The following references are used throughout these species accounts, in the abbreviated form given in quotation marks:
“1968-72 Breeding Atlas” – Sharrack, J.T.R. 1976: The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A. Poyser
“1981-84 Winter Atlas” – Lack, P.C. 1986: The Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A. Poyser
“1988-91 Breeding Atlas” – Gibbons, D.W., Reid, J.B. & Chapman, R.A. 1993: The New Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland 1988-91. T. & A. Poyser
“Birds of Wiltshire” – Ferguson-Lees, I.J. et al. 2007 : Birds of Wiltshire, published by the tetrad atlas group of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society after mapping fieldwork 1995-2000. Wiltshire Ornithological Society.
“Bird Atlas 2007-2011” – Balmer, D.E., Gillings, S., Caffrey, B.J., Swann, R.L., Downie, I.S. and Fuller, R.J. 2013: Bird Atlas 2007-2011: the Breeding and Wintering Birds of Britain and Ireland
“WTA2” – ("Wiltshire Tetrad Atlas 2 ") the present electronic publication, bringing together the Wiltshire data from “Birds of Wiltshire” and “Bird Atlas 2007-11”, together with data from further fieldwork carried out in 2011 and 2012.
"Hobby" - the annual bird report of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society.