Lets break it down - firstly is the cull justified?
I don`t want to get drawn into an argument over the origins of Ruddy Ducks on the Continent - its a red herring and gives the pro-cull people an easy excuse to point to
bad science, the truth is that very limited numbers of Ruddy Ducks have been shot in Spain - its not such a massive issue as has been made out by many people! Apart from a single year when unusual numbers of Ruddy Ducks where forced south because of unusually cold weather there has never been a year when more than 15 Ruddy Ducks have been controlled on the White-headed Ducks breeding grounds in Spain...
That right - we`re proposing shooting thousands of UK Ruddy Ducks because of the occurance of about a dozen or so in Spain....The Phrase sledgehammer to crack a nut springs to mind!
Numbers of Ruddy Duck-White-headed Duck hybrids recorded have actually
dropped since proper surveying of the problem began - thats right numbers of hybrids have
decreased, not increased.
People in favour of the cull point to the Ruddies captive origins as to the reason for it interbreeding happily with White-headed Ducks, another Red Herring! The Ruddies dispersing to Spain and mainland Europe are generations and generations removed from birds that were kept in captivity - breeding across species barriers is a common behaviour of
all wildfowl when there is a limited number of potential partners - just look at the Hybrid Black Ducks/Mallards in the south west for an example...If Ruddies become established they would no longer go "hunting down" White-headed Ducks as potential mates...
In all bird populations limited gene-flow between closely related species occurs - how many closely related species have intergrade zones? It is completely senseless for us to make an arbitary decision to preserve the current White-headed Ducks genetic purity when that is a completely unnatural situation...Look at Hoodie - Carrion Crow hybrids, Yellowhammer - Pine Bunting hybrids Chiffchaff - Iberian Chiffchaff integrades etc etc etc
White-headed Ducks aren`t yet fully protected in Spain, nor is their habitat - the Spanish conservation movement is far smaller, poorer and less influential than that in the UK. Shooting still occurs at many sites (which are also inhabited by the similarly threatened Marbled Teal & Crested Coot) surely the £5million estimated cost of the cull would be better invested in protection and preservation of White-headed Ducks in Spain?
As to the problems the cull would cause....
What credibility will the RSPB have when it calls for protection of other Bird Species - when it has been one of the most vociferous proponents of the Ruddy Duck cull - the Cormorant Cull here is a good example!
What image does it portray to the general public or casual bird lover (Robin Stroker
) for the RSPB for condoning and encouraging the shooting of Ducks on nature reserves? There are about 8000 birders in the Uk so thats about 8000 out of 1,000,000 members who`ll have a firm grasp of the situation leaving 920,000 members/donors etc to be disillusioned...
It is impossible to cull thousands of Ruddy Ducks on some of most important wetland locations without causing death and disturbance amongst internationally important populations of wintering Wildfowl. I know the issue has been belittled already but just think
subjectively how you`d feel if you pitch up in the hides at Rutland Water to be greeted with someone blasting away at rapidly disapearing flocks of Duck as you set your tripod up
Similarly even during the trial cull there were instances of
mistaken identity if you`re a half decent birder it often takes a second glance on a windy reservoir to distinguish a winter plumaged Ruddy, a winter plumaged Black-necked Grebe or a redhead Smew doesn`t it? What chance does a non-birding hunter stand? There are typically less tha a dozen inland Long-tailed Ducks recorded a year...they even managed to kill one of
those! during the trial cull...
A partial cull would be completely ineffective at reducing Ruddy Duck numbers - the birds would quickly "learn" the safe sites and relocate to those, the trial cull only managed to obtain access to approximately 50% of requested sites, there is no evidence that would be any different in future...
Yes to a certain extent the appeal of the Ruddy Duck is its charisma and character
But whats wrong with that? After all it is the beauty, elegance, charisma and endless fascination that drew as all to them in the first place - otherwise we might all be trainspotters or have taken up collecting Mosses & Lichens
