Management strategies to conserve the grey partridge: the effect on other farmland birds.

Abstract

The Partridge Count Scheme (PCS) is run by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust to encourage adoption by land owners of management strategies to benefit Grey Partridge Perdix perdix. This study investigated the effect of these management strategies on other farmland bird species. Twenty-four farms in the PCS were each paired with a control farm (not in PCS and at least 1 km distant) and bird surveys conducted. Bird abundance was 24% higher and species richness greater (on average five more species detected per site) on PCS sites. Management factors such as predator control, supplementary feeding, wild bird cover and beetle banks were present on PCS sites more frequently than on control sites. This study shows that adoption of management strategies as recommended in the PCS are likely to benefit other farmland bird species.