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Major changes to the extent and quality of farmland habitats, brought by the intensification of agricultural practice, are thought to be the main factors driving declines in a suite of farmland bird species in Europe. Recent changes in agricultural techniques have also contributed to widespread soil degradation, arising from increased soil exposure to erosion forces, declining soil organic content and increasing soil compaction. Although soils have a fundamental influence on ecosystem properties, the implications of soil degradation for farmland biodiversity have received little attention. In this study, we measure the influence of soil conditions on the distribution of a declining insectivorous farmland bird, the yellow wagtail Motacilla flava, relative to other habitat features in arable fields. Soil penetrability was found to have a significant influence on the abundance of territorial yellow wagtails at the field scale, together with …