Black Grouse

[jayhunter]

Whilst out on a gated Derbyshire moorland track yesterday, I spotted two Black Grouse. I believe eight were released into the wild last year as an experiment to see if they can breed up there. Anybody with more information please.B (:

[Highway Man]

Quite a few have now been released. Spoke to someone recently who'd seen several not too far from their release pen. As far as I know this is a private introduction by a local land owner. Now why would they want to do that?? They should do allright though as there are no avian predators left out there anymore. I wonder why?

[jayhunter]

Hi Highway Man,
Nice pub in my village called The Highwayman, funny you should say that there are no Avian predators in that area as I am 99% sure I spotted a female Hen Harrier, on the same gated road last year.
Bob

[Capercaillie71]

According to the following link, it is Severn Trent Water, the National Trust and the Peak District National Park authority who are behind the reintroduction:

http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=329

I hope the project is a success. However, according to this site (http://www.peakdistrict-nationalpark.info/place/woodland/oak.html)(produced by the national park authority) the reasons behind the original extinction are not fully understood. Understanding the reasons and being sure that conditions are now favourable are surely quite important for a successful reintroduction.

Also, the project apparently involves captive-bred rather than translocated birds. According to 'Grouse: Status Survey and Action Plan, 2000-2004' (http://books.google.com/books?id=K8xs59L_nFcC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=&source=web&ots=Ihz2x4jzO9&sig=1UU-a0dUsMlOIa8w7TV9ErCauiw#PPA19,M1):

"In central Europe, release of captive-bred birds is the principal technique used in reintroduction……. Although in total several thousand birds have been released, still not a single example exists of a self-sustaining population established from birds reared in captivity.

It is now widely agreed that translocations, i.e. release of birds caught in the wild elsewhere, might be more successful than the release of captive-bred birds."