Yellowhammer Project

The Yellowhammer and Farmland Bird Aid Project (YFBAP).

This is a local project that invites everyone in Rhayader and surrounding villages and adjacent countryside, to take part in a scheme that aims to increase the number of birds in the fields, hedgerows and gardens of the area – particularly those species that have declined in the last 20 years. We sow small fields and plots of winter bird food and have a network of members operating supplementary feeding stations for certain threatened seed-eating birds. The project is coordinated by ‘Rhayader by Nature’ and has received grant aid from Environment wales, The Elan Valley Trust and the BTCV Chestnut Fund.

House Sparrow

The target birds in this project include the yellowhammers, linnets, house sparrows, reed buntings and stock doves that nest around Rhayader but in much reduced numbers than formerly and the Tree Sparrow which we hope to reinstate, it disappeared here as a nesting bird in the early 1990s.

A wide range of other birds will benefit too, including greenfinches, chaffinches, goldfinches, bullfinches, bramblings, redpolls, skylarks, meadow pipits, robins, wrens and dunnocks.

The target birds are all species that require seeds of various sorts in order to survive. They are therefore associated with places where they can find a plentiful supply of nutritious seeds of plants such as fat hen, redshank and chickweed. In the past these plants were found in abundance, along with the birds, among arable crops such as barley, oats and swedes, which used to be grown locally.

In order to be effective in supplying the target birds with what they need, the project will initially concentrate its efforts within an area enclosed by a radius of 6km from Rhayader town clock. This does not exclude anyone outside that area who wishes to get involved.

The project includes providing grain for winter feeding stations, sowing plots with bird food crops, surveying/ counting birds and monitoring the target species.

If you have the space and time and would like to get involved please get in touch with Richard on 01597 811169