BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Red-legged Partridge

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE Alectoris rufa

• Population
changes

• Productivity
trends

• Additional
information

Conservation listings

Europe: SPEC category 2 (declining)
UK: not listed (introduced)

Long-term trend

UK, England: shallow decline

UK population size

72,000–200,000 territories in 2000 (1988–91 Atlas estimate updated using CBC/BBS trend: BiE04, APEP06)

Status summary

Since Red-legged Partridge is a non-native species released in the UK to be shot by hunters, the BTO alerts generated over the recent 25-year period raise no conservation concern. Moreover, BBS data indicate that significant increase has occurred in the UK since 1994. Since 1990, game-bag data show that the numbers released per unit area onto shooting estates have more than doubled since 1990, and the number shot has also about doubled, both as parts of long-term trends evident since the 1960s. The effects of such releases on native fauna have been poorly studied. It is now believed, however, that shooting operations based on large-scale releases of Red-legged Partridges can lead to local extinction of the native Grey Partridge (Watson et al. 2007).

Population changes

Table of population changes for Red-legged Partridge

Source	Period (yrs)	Years	Plots (n)	Change (%)	Lower limit	Upper limit	Alert
CBC/BBS UK	38	1967-2005	153	-16	-46	25
	25	1980-2005	217	-30	-56	-8	>25
	10	1995-2005	461	26	13	39
	5	2000-2005	497	22	14	31
CBC/BBS England	38	1967-2005	151	-19	-45	23
	25	1980-2005	213	-32	-53	-7	>25
	10	1995-2005	452	23	11	35
	5	2000-2005	485	21	13	30
BBS UK	10	1995-2005	443	28	16	41
	5	2000-2005	493	20	11	27
BBS England	10	1995-2005	434	24	14	36
	5	2000-2005	480	19	12	27

Productivity trends

Productivity information is not currently available for this species

Additional information


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This report should be cited as: Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Crick, H.Q.P., Noble, D.G., Balmer, D.E., Barimore, C., Coombes, R.H., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. & Thewlis, R.M. (2007) Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2007. BTO Research Report No. 487. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends) Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 3 January, 2008