‘Twas the week before Christmas and all was not well!

They are celebrated at this time of year but if we are not careful partridges and turtle doves could be remembered only in song. Jack McKeown finds out why the stars of The Twelve Days of Christmas are in such peril

Find out why from Jack McKeown and Dudley Treffry,

IF YOU go for a walk in the country there is less chance than ever that you will see a partridge in a pear tree. Or a partridge in any kind of tree. Partridges and – south of the border – turtle doves are dying out at a faster rate than ever before.

Over a five year period Britain has lost six out of 10 turtle doves and there are now just 14,000 pairs left.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds estimates that by the start of the next decade fewer than 1,000 pairs may remain, putting the bird at risk of going the way of the dodo.

At the same time, the grey partridge population is thought to have fallen by almost a third and there are now only around 43,000 breeding pairs.

Shockingly, both species’ numbers have fallen by more than 90% since 1970 – the turtle dove by 93% and the grey partridge by 91%.

Now the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is urging the government to take action before it is too late to save the iconic species.

“Losing six out of 10 of our turtle doves and three out of 10 grey partridges in five years is nothing short of an unsustainable wildlife disaster,” said RSPB conservation scientist Dr Mark Eaton.

“The turtle dove is in a great degree of danger – if this trend were to continue we could be down to fewer than 1,000 pairs by the middle of the next decade, with complete extinction a real possibility.

“These two icons of Christmas are telling us that wildlife is in crisis. We are urging the Government to take urgent action to save these species from becoming just memories within the Twelve Days of Christmas festive classic.”

Chris Bailey is the RSBP’s advisory manager in Scotland. He said modern farming practices have been a major contributor to the sharp decline in grey partridge numbers.

“It isn’t farmers’ fault,” he said. “It’s just the way that modern farming has developed. There are now far fewer insects and weed seeds.

“Insects are particularly important for the chicks’ diet and weed seeds are an important source of food for adult grey partridge.

“In addition to that there has also been a reduction in nesting sites and a general reduction in habitat.”

Grey partridge like to nest in hedges, at the side of streams, or in the grassy verges at the perimeters of fields.

One of the biggest culprits in reducing grey partridge numbers has been pesticides. “Use of pesticides has dropped over the last few years but they are so effective at doing the job they’re designed for that insect numbers have been reduced,” Mr Bailey said.

Of course, turtle doves are not native to Scotland but their numbers are dropping at an even more alarming rate than the grey partridge.

“There are a lot of factors at play there and it isn’t easy to work out which ones are most responsible,” continued Mr Bailey. “Turtle doves migrate from England to Africa. It may be that some of the decline is happening here, some due to things that happen on their migration flight and some that occur in Africa.”

Thanks to changes in the Common Agricultural Policy and pressure from the RSPB and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, there is now a trend towards subsidising farmers to manage their land to accommodate wildlife, rather than simply maximising food production.

However, Mr Bailey cautioned the grey partridge is not out of the woods yet. “A lot will depend on the outcome of the latest reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy,” he said.

“We’re putting a lot of pressure on various bodies including the European Union and the Scottish Government to deliver an outcome that helps protect wildlife.

“We want to ensure that as much funding as possible – which, of course, comes from our taxes – ends up delivering public good and environmental benefits.

“The next six to 12 months will set the basis for the next six or seven years.”