Grey Partridge Conservation

Once upon a time a beautiful bird called the grey partridge was a common sight in the UK…

You may have seen them featured on Christmas cards and in oil paintings, but the chances are you have never actually seen one in real life. This is because their numbers have declined to such an extent that they are now extinct in some areas. Sadly, they were a casualty of modern, intensive farming methods. The expanses of long, tussocky grass which they need for breeding, along with the insects and seeds these provided as food, started to disappear from the landscape as farming became industrialised and land use was maximised for the growing of crops. The widespread use of herbicides and pesticides also took its toll.

This once common native bird is now on the Birds of Conservation Concern ‘red list’. Red is the highest conservation priority, with species needing urgent action. Government policy now encourages farmers to make changes to their practices and provide areas for wildlife and birds such as the grey partridge to survive and thrive. New suitable habitats are now in place and breeding and release programmes of grey partridges have been underway across the UK in a bid to increase its numbers… and this is where your school can get involved!

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Our grey partridge eggs are ethically and responsibly sourced from a specialist partridge breeder based in Suffolk, who has been dedicated to their conservation for decades. Birds are kept in extremely good, high-welfare, conditions. Partridges hatched are reared to adulthood and paired up. Their eggs are collected when they first come into lay, between March and June. These birds are then themselves released into the wild in July. This means they only spend a short part of their lives in captivity and can go on to live and reproduce naturally. The eggs collected from them are then hatched to provide the next years breeding pairs, and so the cycle continues. It is a brilliant and clever conservation system – young birds are given the best start in life, contribute a few of their eggs for their own conservation and are then released themselves to enjoy the rest of their lives.