The GWCT Released Pheasant Appeal

At the end of the season over one million released hens will try to breed. Most will not succeed. What if they did?

The GWCT Released Pheasant Appeal is something that we at GunsOnPegs believe is vitally important to the future of our sport. Understanding more about why released pheasants are very poor at breeding in the wild would enable the GWCT to come up with some best practices for game keepers to implement to give hens the best chance of producing chicks. After all, adding the wild element to our game shoots is something that most shooting people see as very important.

Re-introducing the wild element to our released shoots – is it possible?

The sight of a wild pheasant rocketing overhead was once a common sight, but fundamental  changes in agriculture and attitudes to predator control have caused most shoots to switch from ‘wild’ game to ‘released’ pheasants. 

The original idea when the switch happened was that a wild element would always be retained.  With this in mind the Trust developed ideas to help farmers and keepers put more conservation measures in place to increase breeding success.  The results were significant for most game birds.  Unfortunately we did not see the same success in released pheasants, the shoot’s staple game bird.  In fact the breeding success of released hens is so low as to be almost negligible.  We need to know why.

What do we already know?

Detailed releasing trials by the Trust in the 1950s were a huge success and shoots across the country now use this system every year to release pheasants into our fields and woods.  Subsequent scientific research over the next 40 years has also shown:

• Land managed for released game birds is beneficial to other wildlife.  There are, for example, more song birds such as tits, finches and warblers in woods managed for released pheasants because of better shrubbery cover provision.
• Where pheasants go when they are released.  Around 60% of released birds stay within the release/feeding area.
• Cover crops planted for released game benefit other over-wintering birds such as linnet, tree sparrow and reed bunting.

Critical questions for the future

Whilst our initial studies quite clearly showed how shoots can manage the countryside in a way that creates conditions that benefit other wildlife, such principles are not proving enough to affect the fate or breeding success of released pheasants when the season is closed.  The two critical questions are:

• Can we encourage more released birds to successfully breed and thrive thereby increasing the wild element on our released shoots?
• Why is the breeding success rate of released hens just 14% of their wild cousins?

We need to know more about the factors that contribute to this poor survival rate and what we can do to improve it.  The key factors we need to research and for which we urgently need additional funds are as follows:

• Building up food reserves to provide the strength to both lay their eggs and sit on the nest for 25 days is key to nesting success.  How well do released pheasant hens do this?
• Do released pheasant hens know how to lead their new born chicks to the high protein insects that they will need in the first 6 days of their lives?  If they don’t, what can be done?
• The scent of a weakened hen makes her more vulnerable to predation.  Can we change conditions to make this less so?
• Relentless predation is a key factor but to what extent?  And in what conditions?
• What specific combinations of nest and brood rearing cover improve breeding success?  Are nests in certain habitats particularly vulnerable?  If so, which ones?

How will we find the answers?

To build an accurate picture of conditions affecting breeding success we need to radio track a large number of hens across a wide variety of habitats. Our scientists will track these pheasants at up to 15 carefully selected locations at least twice a week to document what happens to them throughout pre-nesting, egg-laying, incubation and brood rearing phases.  Mortality will be identified quickly to ensure carcasses are fresh for post mortem analysis.  Through this constant monitoring, our scientists hope to be able to understand which factors impact on the breeding success and chances of survival of released pheasants after the season.

Dr Rufus Sage worked on the original research that addressed the complex issues surrounding the fate and dispersal of released pheasants and is ideally positioned to lead this new project.  Dr Sage has been working for the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust for over 15 years and is the recognised expert in this field.
“If we can find a practical way to encourage more released pheasants to breed a new generation it would be an incredible achievement, both for shooting and local wildlife.  Research like this will keep game management at the forefront of new conservation initiatives in the UK and help allay the concerns of conservation agencies by further demonstrating the sustainability of game shooting."

In summer 2010 we intensively monitored wild breeding in a group of 60 hen pheasants that had been released the previous autumn. This was the first step in our re-wilding research programme on how best to support a wild breeding population of pheasants or red-legged partridges alongside reasonably substantial releases. The work went well but few of our radio-tracked birds managed to hatch a clutch. Most lost nests or died for a variety of reasons including predation and disease. We used video imagery to record which preditors were responsible. Going through the footage is a gory business!

Please support this appeal today.

We must make the commitment to finding the funding for this research which will help us to take another important step in restoring a balance for game and wildlife in our countryside.

The GunsOnPegs Fieldsports Club was set up to provide funding to the GWCT's driven game bird research and specifically, the Released Pheasant Appeal. By joining the GunsOnPegs Fieldsports Club at £49, you will be automatically giving around £15 directly towards this appeal whilst also receiving a vast range of benefits including shooting insurance for the year.

To join the GunsOnPegs Fieldsports Club and support the Released Pheasant Appeal, please click here.

To give a larger donation to the Released Pheasant Appeal, you may do so via the GWCT website on this page.

How will your donation today help?

£58- Covers the cost of scientific time to trap and fit a collar around one hen pheasant at the end of the season to allow it to be tracked.

£150- buys a miniature radio tracking collar to identify one hen pheasant.

£193- covers the cost of radio tracking one hen pheasant every week for nine months to understand its movements and breeding success.

£1,400- buys a receiver unit that will allow up to 200 birds to be tracked simultaneously; this significantly reduces the number of hours that have to be spent in the field.

Your help is vital. Thank you.