Keep Feeding The Birds This Winter

According to a new fact sheet produced by wildlife research charity, The Game Conservancy Trust, the first four months of the year can prove critical for the survival of many game and other farmland birds as these are the leanest months for food. By January most of the harvest-spilt grain and weed seeds have been gleaned by birds and small mammals leaving an empty larder during the coldest period for many vulnerable species.

The wild grey partridge is a species that has suffered massive population declines over the last thirty years. However research by the Trust has shown that habitat chick food in the form of insects and also the control of predators is very important to the survival of the species. Another important factor is providing food for the adult grey partridge, especially in late winter and spring.

The new fact sheet produced by the Trust titled ‘Later winter and spring feeding of pheasants and partridges’, details some of the problems facing gamebirds in winter. Pheasants, for example, can rapidly lose weight and condition during these lean months, so that come the breeding season in April and May, when hen birds have to produce and incubate eggs, many are not up to the task.

In extensive feeding trials the Trust has discovered that when pheasants are fed in their breeding territories, the density of territorial cocks and hens can increase by up to 50%. Fed hens can maintain body condition throughout the nesting period and on average around 85% more chicks are produced to fledging when spring feeding is employed.

To maximise the feeding regime for partridge, a network of wheat filled feeders should ideally be set up prior to the covey breaking up by the end of the year. The hoppers need to be just 10-20 litres in size and placed some 8 – 10 inches above the ground.

The positioning and number of feed hoppers is important. Identifying good nesting areas for grey partridges (or where they nested in a previous year), such as good tussocky grass margins, beetle banks or patches of waste ground in ‘open’ parts of the farm or estate. Each pair of greys should have their own hopper as once they have paired up they will not want to share. The hoppers should be kept full until the end of May.

There are some distinct differences between feeding partridges and pheasants, The Game Conservancy Trust have therefore designed the new fact sheet to explain the specific requirements of each species. Other vulnerable species such as yellowhammers and corn buntings will often feed from the same wheat hoppers as gamebirds and will therefore also benefit from this winter feeding regime.