Survival of Common Pheasant in the UK (1 Viewer)

[Mono]

With the slow demise of the Lady Ams, it got me thinking... if they stopping flooding the countryside with millions of captive reared birds would the Common Pheasant survive in the UK?

A quick look at Game Conservancy studies would imply not, in one study 16% of birds survived the shooting season, but survivors only made up 10% of the birds at the start of the next season. A substantial loss given that the "wild" birds would have had an opportunity to breed. Another study showed that wild breeding Pheasants only got an average of two chicks per brood to hatch.

Does anyone have any local knowledge of where estates have given up on shooting and what has happened to the surviving pheasants.

No agendas here, just ideal curiosity, but I do find the idea of future birders chasing round the British countryside looking for the last remaining population of Pheasants somewhat surreal!

 

[JWN Andrewes]

Interesting question, one I've pondered myself before now. If areas were managed specifically for Pheasants (not something I am aware of having happened for Lady Am's, or indeed Golden which seem to be also in decline) perhaps they'd hang on. Left to their own devices I'd be far less sure. Can't see us ever finding out somehow.

 

[MJB]

If they stopping flooding the countryside with millions of captive reared birds would the Common Pheasant survive in the UK?

A quick look at Game Conservancy studies would imply not, in one study 16% of birds survived the shooting season, but survivors only made up 10% of the birds at the start of the next season. A substantial loss given that the "wild" birds would have had an opportunity to breed. Another study showed that wild breeding Pheasants only got an average of two chicks per brood to hatch.

Let's suppose that releases stopped after the shooting season had begun, when the 16% figure represents the total surviving birds at its end, and 10% the total after 'natural' (includes roadkill) casualties, then this is only a 62.5% survival rate (I know it's from a single study and relates to initial conditions, but bear with me).

Pheasant breeding in the wild is of the alpha male + harem model, and so the hatching rate you quote presumably refers either to 'per female' or to 'per alpha male', which would give two very different productivity rates. Furthermore, the rate at which wild-bred hatchlings would survive to adulthood in UK is needed for accurate prediction of the combined adult and immature survival rate, but I would hazard a guess that the survival of immatures is not high.

So, heaping assumption upon assumption, if we assign a total annual survival rate of 67% over 12 years, at the end of that period, a steady decline would result in a population that is 0.2% of the starting population. Of course, severe winters would make numbers drop more steeply, as would fragmentation of surviving populations, and individual pheasants that have survived several years would probably be better at surviving, and so would slow the declines locally.
MJB

 

[BimmyB]

To add another perspective, some shoots gather up large numbers of females at the end of the shooting season. These are sent back to the breeders who produce the chicks for many shoots to use as breeding stock, so the number of females left in a population in the spring is skewed by this activity. If all the females left after a shooting season remained in the population, I expect Pheasants would probably be self sustaining, if not across the whole of the UK, but at least in pockets.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Would it be a disaster if they didn't survive?

They're one of the biggest predators of Adders I believe.


A

 

[Nutcracker]

Would it be a disaster if they didn't survive?

They're one of the biggest predators of Adders I believe.

No!

No proof, but I suspect that they're also a big driver of the decline and regional extinction of Black Grouse, by out-competing them for food resources and maybe spreading disease.

 

[Farnboro John]

No!

No proof, but I suspect that they're also a big driver of the decline and regional extinction of Black Grouse, by out-competing them for food resources and maybe spreading disease.

I endorse that view and have also heard it from shooters distressed at the loss of their local Black Grouse due, in their view, to over-greedy landlords trying to run massive numbers of pheasants on Black Grouse land.

John

 

[Xenospiza]

Pheasant releases have declined massively in the Netherlands: releasing them has been banned since 1993 (but I assume it's still happening illegally). In Germany (at least Northrhine-Westphalia) and Belgium, releasing pheasants has only been prohibited recently, so illegal activities are likely to be more prevalent.

However, in good habitat they're still about: http://waarneming.nl/soort/maps/88?..._valid=0&grid=1000&kwart=0&st=&second_specie=
Main areas are arable land near marshes/reedbeds. I assume the high numbers on the island of Texel may be due to low predation (no foxes).

 

[halftwo]

They're widespread in areas with no shoots - and seem to do well. (One currently visiting my garden - as it does every winter)
I would think that survival is assured in most of England & Wales even if no more were released. In every place I've lived they are common in the area at large - and shooting was/is concentrated around release areas - so many spread & breed away from the shoots/releases.

 

[saluki]

Thirty years ago 'wild' pheasant shoots weren't particularly uncommon - that's a shoot that relies upon a wild breeding stock rather than hand-reared birds. To practise this however, stringent predator control would take place, though on the plus side habitat management would be far better for the environment than the current situation on large reared shoots, and winter feeding helped large numbers of finches, etc. Pheasant numbers were far less dense on wild shoots than on modern-day released shoots, the object of the excercise was to produce fewer but potentially higher flying birds that were difficult to hit. It's a fallacy that pheasants are thick - any bird if released in large numbers without parental guidance would soon succumb to traffic, etc. Young Grey partridge, if released correctly on land where Greys are still present, will be adopted by 'barren' (birds that haven't bred) pairs - they show no signs of the stupidity that posseses young, parentless pheasant or Redlegged partridge. I released Pheasant on a small estate in Mid-Argyll in the late 80's/early 90's, despite no predator control whatsoever since that period, and a loss of most of the arable farmland in the area to sheep, there remains a small but resilient population of pheasant.

 

[Mono]

Thanks for your opinions and examples.
It seems that the Pheasant would persist, not that there is any likelihood of a release ban any time soon.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...gove-brexit-eu-referendum-davos-a7540311.html

 

[jogresh]

Where does this practice stand with regard to the law on releasing non-natives? I assume someone's thought of this before i did about 30 seconds ago. I know that i'm not allowed to release a Grey Squirrel or Ruddy Duck for instance. Perhaps Pheasant are considered to have been around for so many hundreds of years that they're "as good as" native?

 

[Nutcracker]

They (and Red-legged Partridges) are specifically exempted, on the say-so (i.e., big bribes!) of the shooting industry.

 

[pppppvvvv]

Where does this practice stand with regard to the law on releasing non-natives? I assume someone's thought of this before i did about 30 seconds ago. I know that i'm not allowed to release a Grey Squirrel or Ruddy Duck for instance. Perhaps Pheasant are considered to have been around for so many hundreds of years that they're "as good as" native?

This was discussed in some detail in article below, about 5 paragraphs down. Even so, I don't think it addresses your query...

http://www.monbiot.com/2014/04/28/the-shooting-party/

 

[Andy Adcock]

This will put a dent in the local population.......

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-38781751



A

 

[jogresh]

This was discussed in some detail in article below, about 5 paragraphs down. Even so, I don't think it addresses your query...

http://www.monbiot.com/2014/04/28/the-shooting-party/

Cameron froze the shotgun licence at £50? Hasn't he just taken up shooting again after an enforced layoff?

Ta 4 the replies.