Partridge & Biometrics JOIN THE PCS The country’s wild grey partridges need more land managers, especially those with only a few grey partridges, to join the Partridge Count Scheme. Find out more at www.gwct.org.uk/pcs.
Partridge Count Scheme The number of grey partridge pairs recorded in the spring of 2019 was 7,406, with a 41% increase in density since spring 2018. © Steve Round
KEY FINDINGS The national average spring pair density on PCS sites increased by 41% in 2019. Summer productivity, measured as Young-to-Old ratio, fell to just two young birds per adult. Nationally, the average autumn density decreased by 11%.
Neville Kingdon Julie Ewald
Partridge Count Scheme (PCS) members returned 561 counts in spring 2019, an encouraging increase of 84 spring counts from 2018. A total of 7,406 pairs of grey partridge were counted across 174,500 hectares (ha) (431,100 acres). Average spring pair density nationally increased by 41% to 5.2 pairs/100ha (250 acres) (see Table 1). Eastern England witnessed the greatest increase in pair density. North England and Scotland each recorded positive increases as did the few participating areas in Wales and Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, the Midlands experienced a decline (-10%) but still achieved an average 2.6 pairs/100ha, but southern England suffered the largest decrease (-21%) to an average of just 1.5 pairs/100ha. Nationally, over-winter survival (OWS) for 2018/19 decreased again (-7%) to 49%. Northern England was the only region to see an increase in OWS (13%). Scotland and southern England’s OWS remained relatively stable with only small declines (less than -2%), but OWS in eastern England declined again for a second year (-20%), now achieving only 43% survival. The long-term change in spring pair density (see Figure 1) shows that sites which participated in the PCS prior to 1999 (long-term sites) recorded an average 19% increase on the 2018 spring density, giving an average 2019 spring density of 5.7 pairs/100ha, while new sites (which joined since 1999) recorded an increase of 18%, with an average density of 3.6 pairs/100ha. The noticeably warm dry spring offered hope of a good summer for wild partridges, but as June began Storm Miguel dragged in successive bands of wet weather to most areas for the rest of the month, hitting just as mid-June’s peak hatch occurred. This inclement
Figure 1
Long-term sites
New sites
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are extremely grateful to GCUSA for its ongoing support of our grey partridge work.
52 | GAME & WILDLIFE REVIEW 2019
Spring grey partridge pairs per 100 hectares (95% CL)
Trends in the grey partridge spring pair density, controlling for variation in different count areas
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