The Great Bustard Project

[Fauna]

Forgive my ingronance on this subject, but i see they have been awarded £1.8 million in funding to help enlarge this project over the next 5yrs.

Would these birds be able to spread out and live in the wider countryside (is this their aim) or would they be restricted to the Salisbury plain?


Regards Chris...

[tcvarlh]

I saw them in Hungary [(tuzokrezervatum), Devavanya] a long while back and they seemed to stay, like the Rain in Spain, mainly on the Plain. Flat wide landscapes appear to be their favourite habitat. Big devils too!
h

[aeshna5]

They do need large open spaces to live, so suitable habitat would appear to be rather limited in the UK. A few years back one of the released birds was at Slimbridge + I saw it in flight along the Severn- quite a site.

Magnificent birds- I've had the pleasure of seeing flocks in Spain + Hungary + wish the project well, though I'm sure a good argument could be made as to whether this money couldn't be better spent.

[Fauna]

Cheers both...They are certainly a bird i would love to see, and i to wish them well with the project.

£1.8 million is a huge amount of money for a species introduction that looks like it will be mostly restricted to this area?

Though, it would be foolish of me to criticise this project knowing so little about it...looks like i will put it on my to do list for this year.


Regards Chris

[Wild-Woman]

From what I understand, the project is match-funded so the work has to be done before the money is given...think that's right. The other point is that as area is improved for bustards this will have a positive knock on effect for other farmland birds that are struggling.
I think it's a positive move for creature we hunted to extinction in the first place. I for one would be very pleased to see one and I'm sure it'll be used to educate folk about what we did and now how we are trying to put things right. A lesson for the future.

[eeyore]

The money is from a european pot - LIFE+, it isnt coming from HMG,

also with regard to the original question there is no reason why the birds could not spread out into wiltshire farmland, so long as nest plots are provided - as they are currently for stone curlew

[tcvarlh]

They are part of the Coat of Arms of Wiltshire and of Cambridgeshire so having a viable population would be something to wish for.
So sorry, any county with Unicorns, Hippogriffs, Wyverns, Dragons, Pegasus', Merfolk, etc on their Arms, such re-introductions are going to be problematic! If not downright lethal!
h

[RKB]

Originally Posted by eeyore

also with regard to the original question there is no reason why the birds could not spread out into wiltshire farmland, so long as nest plots are provided - as they are currently for stone curlew

They density of predators is likely too high and habitat too limited for a long-term viable population. As well as hunting [cf Wild-Woman] habitat change probably had just as much (if not more) to do with their extinction, particularly enclosure of the sheep droves/wastes and intensification of agriculture in the 1800s. As we cannot even sustain Grey Partridge in our arable farmland, then Bustards might be a big ask. When Bustards were breeding here, many hedgerows did not exist, field sizes were much larger and pasture was a much greater part of the landscape. You just don't get much of that kind of wide open space anymore, not in the sort of quantity that can sustain a population of Bustards.

I think the population is unlikely to reach a point where it is ever self-sustainable, with hundreds of pairs and breeding success that replaces losses. If anything, England is becoming more hostile for them - woodland and hedgerow planting are increasing, predators are at an all-time high and probably still increasing (corvids, badgers, foxes, large raptors), large insects are declining, and public use of the countryside is also increasing (leisure). For a large, wary bird with a low reproductive output, it's hard to see where you could put 100 breeding pairs where they'd be in touch with each other and be able to breed successfully.

[montagu]

Originally Posted by RKB

I think the population is unlikely to reach a point where it is ever self-sustainable, with hundreds of pairs and breeding success that replaces losses. For a large, wary bird with a low reproductive output, it's hard to see where you could put 100 breeding pairs where they'd be in touch with each other and be able to breed successfully.

They have experienced a high proportion of losses already-only about 18 birds have survived so far out of a much larger number of young birds released over several years. Foxes have been the main problem.