Charity appeal to help our partridges survive (From Salisbury Journal)

Charity appeal to help our partridges survive

9:40am Friday 30th December 2011 in News By Miranda Robertson

Charity appeal to help our partridges survive

A FORDINGBRIDGE conservation charity is issuing a seasonal appeal for landowners to create insect habitats to save the grey partridge.

The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust is saying grey partridges need insects, not pear trees this Christmas, if the species is to survive.

The wild grey partridge, immortalised in the carol The Twelve Days of Christmas, is on the brink of extinction in many parts of the country, says the trust.

But current research shows it would be possible to save the farmland bird with the creation of conservation headlands – a special habitat that provides lots of soft-bodied, slow-moving insects for hungry chicks to eat when they first hatch.

Grey partridges have suffered an 85 per cent decline over the past 40 years, says the trust, with the population, which once amounted to more than a million breeding pairs in Britain, dwindling to fewer than 60,000 pairs.

The trust says young partridge chicks, which need at least 2,000 insects each day to survive, are starving to death because not enough of these insect-rich habitats are being created.

But in areas where the land is being managed sympathetically for grey partridges, the population has shown an encouraging 26 per cent increase this year.

Professor Nick Sotherton, director of research with the trust, said: “We have suffered atrociously wet conditions over the past few summers when chicks first hatch, and this has been instrumental in hampering grey partridge recovery.

“Although we cannot control the weather, our research shows that by creating the right habitats, young partridge chicks will not only have shelter from heavy downpours and protection from predators, they will also have insect-rich foraging areas, where they can feed and thrive.

“Our latest counts show that it is possible to reverse these dramatic declines, but we need to expand this progress to the wider farmed landscape.”

In an effort to boost vital habitats for grey partridges, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust has produced a series of free factsheets showing how and when to plant insect-rich brood rearing areas.

Conservation headlands, which are specially-designed brood rearing crops, are usually planted in March so that they are well established by June and can be left over winter to provide an extra food source.

For further information contact Neville Kingdon on 01425 651066, or at nkingdon@gwct.org.uk or go to gwct.org.uk/pcs.