Are Gibraltar's Barbary Partridge still listable? (1 Viewer)

[John Cantelo]

I see from the following clip that the situation regarding Gib's Barbary Partridge is now so grim that the government there are reintroducing them. Given that, in the UK at least, the rules say that populations should be self sustaining does this mean they're not listable anymore? Also is Gibraltar to only place on this planet still deliberately reintroducing Rabbits?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpaFXV1Mxrc

 

[Nutcracker]

Everyone in Britain ticks Red-legged Partridges, and they'd likely not be self sustaining either if releases stopped

So you might as well go ahead and tick the things :t:

 

[eddy the eagle]

I am fortunate to have seen the Barbary partridge a few years ago before this introduction.If they had not allowed the Windmill area area of Gibraltar to become a shooting range and or a car park they would not have had to introduce more birds....Eddy

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Everyone in Britain ticks Red-legged Partridges, and they'd likely not be self sustaining either if releases stopped

Interesting. I saw Red-legged Partridge a few years ago in Scotland and was told they weren't tickable, so I didn't.

Fortunately, I'm heading to Spain next month, so I should get them then.

 

[Tiraya]

Whether you tick red-legged partridge/pheasant/mandarin duck in the UK depends whether you tick parakeets/house sparrow/feral pigeon in the US!

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Whether you tick red-legged partridge/pheasant/mandarin duck in the UK depends whether you tick parakeets/house sparrow/feral pigeon in the US!

I do tick those, because the ABA clearly states they're tickable. But from what I can tell, the BOURC list is more subjective as to "tickability" (as opposed to simply determining whether the population is self-sustaining).

So in the case of birds outside the USA, I tend to follow the prevailing winds. My sense was that most people did not tick category C birds, so therefore I didn't either.

As always, I'm prepared to be corrected.

 

[Jos Stratford]

Whether you tick red-legged partridge/pheasant/mandarin duck in the UK depends whether you tick parakeets/house sparrow/feral pigeon in the US!

Not really so in the case of Red-legged Partridge as the species is still widely released, thus not necessarily in all cases self-sustaining as in the US examples.

 

[sneil]

Everyone in Britain ticks Red-legged Partridges, and they'd likely not be self sustaining either if releases stopped

:t:

No they don't...

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Didn't mean to cause such an uproar, but I am glad to know it's not cut and dried.

 

[Nutcracker]

Didn't mean to cause such an uproar, but I am glad to know it's not cut and dried.

I'd guess that the problem is that cut and dried Barbary Partridge is too popular with the locals . . . :king:

 

[Ernest Garcia]

Barbary Partridges were almost certainly first introduced to Gibraltar in the late 18th century. There are no records of subsequent introductions. The current population fluctuates but may be in the range of 50-100 birds. It almost certainly declined during the 20th century as the Rock became progressively covered with dense, tall Mediterranean scrub. In recent years steps have been taken to open up the habitat and this process is continuing. The return to nature of the vast Great Sand Slope on the eastern side of the Rock, long covered with corrugated iron sheeting to collect rainfall, has undoubtedly added extensive partridge habitat. The population must have experienced one or more genetic bottlenecks, given its small size, so the arrival of 'new blood' is bound to be beneficial. Whether the Gibraltar birds are now listable is up to the criteria a lister employs I suppose.
Ernest Garcia (Editor, Gibraltar Bird Report)

PS Rabbits are being released in a number of key areas of Iberia, to boost populations that have been severely affected by the various rabbit viruses, in the interests of the scarcer raptors and the Iberian Lynx.

 

[dario_mad]

"PS Rabbits are being released in a number of key areas of Iberia, to boost populations that have been severely affected by the various rabbit viruses, in the interests of the scarcer raptors and the Iberian Lynx." Ernest Garcia

Concerning rabbits, as I was scrolling down seeing that nobody had mentioned it, I was just about to make the same point. But no need.
There is actually areas in Iberia with a serious lack of rabbits, a factor taking a heavy toll on predators.