Turkish Villagers Plant Wheat For Birds To Eat, Just To Hear Them Sing Again

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A decade or so ago, the sound of wild birds that once flocked to the rural village of Boyluca, Turkey had been replaced by silence. Many farmers moved from the region and the crops that had attracted the feathered crooners all but disappeared with them, forcing the birds to look elsewhere for food.

Recently, however, birds and their songs have begun to return to Boyluca, and it's all thanks to two men. For the last four years, local shopkeeper Tahir Öztürk and his uncle have been planting around 28 acres of wheat on their property -- specifically for birds to eat.

"[We] decided to plant our fields with wheat so we could hear the partridges in our village again and support wildlife here. We do not harvest the wheat, but leave it for the animals," Öztürk tells Anadolu news agency.

"There were no birds here before. Now we can see many different kinds of birds after planting the wheat."