Today's Birding

[Cordaline]

Had a good day out today.
Went to Bury Down & back to Welford.

Saw a good variety of the more day to day common birds (I won't bore you with those) & some nice ones too.

18 Grey Partridge, Linnets, Skylark & Red Kites at Bury Down.
8 Helmeted Guinea Fowl on the cricket pitch at West Ilsley.
At dusk, a Dipper at Welford & there were a good 200+ Jackdaws circling overhead getting ready to roost.
Also on the river were some Muscovy Ducks.
Soon after, on the journey home, there was a flock of about 20+ Lapwings flying close to the fence by the M4.

Total species seen today, 32.
(Not including the Muscovy Ducks & Guinea Fowl.)

Vicki.

[~T~]

Are guinea fowl breeding in the uk now?

[aeshna5]

There do seem to be a few groups of Helmetted Guineafowl around- I saw a small flock near Dorking last summer. I'm not aware of any sustainable populations, but the species does appear on the BTO recording forms as does Peafowl that also wander.

[Cordaline]

Originally Posted by ~T~

Are guinea fowl breeding in the uk now?

As far as I am aware, they're only captive bred, ie:- on someone's farm.
Other than that, escapees to the wild I suppose.

[david156]

Just a little info on Muscovy Duck. Its currently in category E which is, and I quote

"a Species recorded as introductions, human-assisted transportees or escapees from captivity, and whose breeding populations (if any) are thought not to be self-sustaining. Species in Category E that have bred in the wild in Britain are designated as E*. Category E species form no part of the British List (unless already included within Categories A, B or C)."

and to add to that here is a quote from British Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee: 37th Report (October 2008)

"Muscovy Duck Cairina moschata As part of the Category C review (Ibis 147: 803–820), it was stated that this species now met the criteria for elevation to Category C4. This outcome is suspended to allow further research on the stability and longevity of an isolated, inbreeding population originating from domesticated stock, and to investigate the population’s dependency on supplementary feeding."

So basically if it can be proved that Muscovy ducks are breeding in the wild and can survive without food handouts from the public they may get put into cat. c on the official british list. I guess the Muscovys on the broads are buggered as they live on bread most of the year.