Feeding of hand‐reared grey partridge <i>Perdix perdix</i> chicks ‐ importance of invertebrates

Liukkonen-Anttila, Tuija; Putaala, Ahti; Hissa, R.

doi:10.2981/wlb.2002.003

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…We conclude that in pheasants, diet, foraging behaviour, gut morphology and digestive capabilities all work together as one nutritional complex (Thomas ) and that a simple manipulation of diet during early development in captivity can have a cascading effect on individual survival. However, in captive rearing environments, diet is typically restricted with many intensive rearing systems using processed feed (Liukkonen‐Anttila, Putaala & Hissa ), which is homogenous in form and in excess (Villalba, Provenza & Manteca ). This food is nutritionally balanced but may not give the animal the diverse diet that it would have if it was foraging in the wild.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet complexity in early life affects survival in released pheasants by altering foraging efficiency, food choice, handling skills and gut morphology

Whiteside

Sage

Madden

2015

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Behavioural and physiological deficiencies are major reasons why reintroduction programmes suffer from high mortality when captive animals are used. Mitigation of these deficiencies is essential for successful reintroduction programmes. Our study manipulated early developmental diet to better replicate foraging behaviour in the wild. Over 2 years, we hand-reared 1800 pheasants (Phasianus colchicus), from 1 day old, for 7 weeks under different dietary conditions. In year one, 900 pheasants were divided into three groups and reared with (i) commercial chick crumb, (ii) crumb plus 1% live mealworm or (iii) crumb plus 5% mixed seed and fruit. In year two, a further 900 pheasants were divided into two groups and reared with (i) commercial chick crumb or (ii) crumb plus a combination of 1% mealworm and 5% mixed seed and fruit. In both years, the commercial chick crumb acted as a control treatment, whilst those with live prey and mixed seeds and fruits mimicking a more naturalistic diet. After 7 weeks reared on these diets, pheasants were released into the wild. Postrelease survival was improved with exposure to more naturalistic diets prior to release. We identified four mechanisms to explain this. Pheasants reared with more naturalistic diets (i) foraged for less time and had a higher likelihood of performing vigilance behaviours, (ii) were quicker at handling live prey items, (iii) were less reliant on supplementary feed which could be withdrawn and (iv) developed different gut morphologies. These mechanisms allowed the pheasants to (i) reduce the risk of predation by reducing exposure time whilst foraging and allowing more time to be vigilant; (ii) be better at handling and discriminating natural food items and not be solely reliant on supplementary feed; and (iii) have a better gut system to cope with the natural forage after the cessation of supplementary feeding in the spring. Learning food discrimination, preference and handling skills by the provision of a more naturalistic diet is essential prior to the release of pheasants in a reintroduction programme. Subsequent diet, foraging behaviour, gut morphology and digestive capabilities all work together as one nutritional complex. Simple manipulations during early development can influence these characteristics to better prepare an individual for survival upon release.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet complexity in early life affects survival in released pheasants by altering foraging efficiency, food choice, handling skills and gut morphology

Whiteside

Sage

Madden

2015

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…The effects of early-life diet can be profound for pheasants, persisting into adulthood. Small manipulations to the composition of pheasant diet during early development can influence tarsal size and symmetry (Ohlsson and Smith 2001), male sexual ornaments (Ohlsson et al 2002), body condition , body size (Orledge et al, 2012aa) and primary feather development (Liukkonen-Anttila et al 2002). The nutritional state of the mother laying the egg may also be critical, with hens fed standard rearing crumb producing offspring with poorer food-learning abilities than those of hens reared on a diet supplemented with fatty acids (Bagliacca et al 2000).…”

Section: Mitigation That May Reduce Starvationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why do many pheasants released in the UK die, and how can we best reduce their natural mortality?

2018

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Around 60% of pheasants released for shooting in the UK, an estimated 21 million birds, do not end up at their intended fate: being shot. This constitutes wastage, raising economic, environmental and ethical questions. We review what is known of the fates of released pheasants and consider why they do not directly contribute to the numbers harvested. We focus on four main explanations: predation, disease, starvation and dispersal, and highlight other important causes of mortality. For each explanation, we attempt to attribute levels of loss and identify timings or conditions when such losses may be heaviest. We review factors that exacerbate losses and methods available to mitigate them. Opportunities for amelioration may arise at all stages of the rearing and release of pheasants and involve changes to the conditions under which eggs are produced, the way young pheasants are reared or the management of the environment into which they are released. We found few studies investigating impacts of post-release management techniques on pheasant survival outside of the breeding season within a UK context. We found that a number of less commonly deployed practices focusing on early-life, pre-release management may improve survival. Given the scale of pheasant releasing in the UK, even improvements in survival of 1% would mean that~350,000 fewer birds die of natural causes. Complementing current post-release management with proven novel pre-release management interventions could reduce the number of pheasants required for release, whilst maintaining current shooting levels. Lowering release numbers would lower financial costs, benefit the environment and reduce some ethical concerns over the release and shooting of reared pheasants.

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“…For grey partridge, a strong relationship was found between food availability during breeding and breeding success; this was demonstrably linked to population change (Potts & Aebischer, 1991). Such a link has been hypothesised for other species because the majority of farmland birds feed their chicks invertebrates, which provide the necessary protein for growth and the energy to resist chilling (O’Connor, 1984; Potts, 1986; Liukkonen‐Anttila et al , 2002; Southwood & Cross, 2002). The reductions in invertebrate abundance along with changes in species dominance (Croy, 1987; Körner, 1990) may alter food availability for birds and consequently impact on breeding success.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of invertebrates and seed‐bearing plants as food for farmland birds in Europe

Holland

Hutchison

Smith

et al. 2006

Annals of Applied Biology

155

161

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Dietary information was reviewed for 22 bird species typically found in farmland areas across Europe using 100 references from the UK and other European countries for which quantitative data were presented. The number of studies and degree of taxonomic resolution available varied considerably between the species and, for some, dietary information was only available prior to agricultural intensification and may be unrepresentative of current feeding habits. Consequently, some caution is required in interpreting the results because of the different methods of data collection between the studies and the biases in analytical techniques for prey detectability. Food availability was rarely quantified in the study areas, and diet may have reflected availability or preference. Plant families and invertebrate orders were ranked in their importance separately for adult diet in the breeding and nonbreeding seasons and for chicks. The most important plant families overall were Poaceae, Polygonaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Cruciferae, Compositae, Chenopodiaceae and Labiatae, although the last two were unimportant for chicks. A number of key species were also identified. Similarities in dietary preferences were observed among Fringillidae (finches) and members of the Columbidae (doves and pigeons). Fringillidae and Carduelis cannabina (linnet) were associated with plants that occur in seminatural habitats, while Emberiza citrinella (yellowhammer), Phasianidae (partridges) and Columbidae were shown to be more closely associated with plants of agricultural environments. The most important invertebrate orders overall were Coleoptera adults, Hemiptera adults, Arachnida, Lepidoptera larvae/pupae, Diptera adults, Lepidoptera adults, Diptera larvae/pupae and Hymenoptera adults. During the nonbreeding season, a smaller number of invertebrate taxa were important. For adults in the breeding season and for chicks, there were 10 families of invertebrate that were important for four or more bird species (Aphididae, Carabidae, Chrysomelidae, Curculionidae, Elateridae, Formicidae, Scarabeidae, Staphylinidae, Tenthredinidae and Tipulidae). In the nonbreeding season, Curculionidae and Lumbricidae were important in the diet of three species. A few species exhibited a narrow diet range, selecting invertebrates from only one or two families. Similarities in dietary composition were observed among closely related bird species, while that of chicks and adults sometimes differed.

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Feeding of hand‐reared grey partridge Perdix perdix chicks ‐ importance of invertebrates

Cited by 11 publications

References 27 publications

Diet complexity in early life affects survival in released pheasants by altering foraging efficiency, food choice, handling skills and gut morphology

Diet complexity in early life affects survival in released pheasants by altering foraging efficiency, food choice, handling skills and gut morphology

Why do many pheasants released in the UK die, and how can we best reduce their natural mortality?

A review of invertebrates and seed‐bearing plants as food for farmland birds in Europe

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