Grey partridges on the Sussex Downs

Some farmers believe that the extinction of the grey partridge on the Sussex Downs is inevitable. However, successful breeding on the Duke of Norfolk’s estate near Arundel suggests this need not be the case.

The basics of wild grey partridge management have been known for a generation. We have known the importance of controlling nest predators, providing nesting cover, having sufficient insect food for the chicks and appropriate rates of shooting. More recently, we have come to believe that we need to provide more food for adult birds and more protection from birds of prey. Following experiences in France, we advocated the use of grain hoppers for adults from autumn to summer and, from research in France, Sussex and Norfolk, including the work of Mark Watson (see Review of 2003, pages 64-67), we also think we need to create umbrella-like cover (eg. kale or thorns) as protection from harriers, buzzards and sparrowhawks, as well as bare areas for roosting (to avoid foxes).

Providing habitat such as beetle banks, hedges and conservation headlands is expensive, but fortunately costs can be recovered either through the Entry Level Stewardship or, preferably, Higher Level Stewardship operated by Natural England. However, the landowner still needs to pay for the essential gamekeeper.

Figure 1. September densities of grey partridges on the Sussex Downs study area

	Grey partridge management area
	Rest of Sussex study area

This is a formidable list of recommendations but, since the 2003/04 cropping season, one part of the Sussex study area, Norfolk Estate, has taken up the challenge with spectacular results (see Figure 1). Autumn densities of grey partridges on the area with new management have gone from 1.2 birds per 100 hectares in 2003 to 64.0 in 2008, whereas on the remaining area the densities were 4.6 per 100 hectares in 2003 and 5.2 in 2008.

In 2008, partridge breeding success on the managed area was the highest we have known with a young-to-old ratio of 4.5. It was 0.4 on the rest of the Sussex study area. Large grey partridge broods were found on the managed area, but not elsewhere (see Figure 2).

Low-input conservation headlands are key ingredients to this new management as they provide the invertebrate food for chicks in the summer months. It is a sad fact that the precursors of conservation headlands were in place 40 years ago on the study area, but conservation headlands remain one of the least popular management options available in stewardship; fewer than 5% of farmers or landowners in Entry Level Stewardship have put them in.

Figure 2. Grey partridge coveys counted on the Sussex study area in autumn 2008

		Managed sites
	Note: the higher breeding success on the managed areas (within the orange boundary)