Grouse moors across Scotland will be required to hold licences and could face shooting bans as part of radical measures to combat bird of prey persecution passed by MSPs on Thursday. The Scottish parliament voted for the controls amid intense pressure from conservation scientists and campaigners after decades of illegal attacks on birds of prey […]
Tag: Grouse
5 of the Most Spectacular (& Elaborate) Mating Rituals of Birds
Mating rituals in the animal kingdom vary across species, and birds are no exception. Typically, dances for courtship between birds involve the makes working hard to attract the females’ attention. They use movement, sounds, skills, and good looks to woo their potential partner! 1. Black-Footed Albatross Source: Eric Dale/Youtube The black-footed albatross mating ritual is […]
Thousands of wild animals ‘slaughtered’ every year to protect shooting for sport on grouse moors
An Oxford-led academic study has claimed a staggering 260,000 animals are killed in Scotland every year to protect the grouse population for shooting on country estates. They said the practice of using traps to cull predators on Scottish moors causes “tremendous, unjustifiable suffering” to creatures and must be fully banned. Animals targeted include foxes, weasels, […]
More Than Half of U.S. Birds Are in Decline, Warns New Report
The Rufous Hummingbird, Greater Sage-Grouse, Pinyon Jay, and 67 other birds in the United States are teetering on the edge of disaster, having lost at least half of their populations in the past 50 years. A report released today by North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) calls these birds “Tipping Point” species, on track to […]
Emergency plan to save the capercaillie bird launched as numbers plummet
An emergency plan is being drawn up to save the capercaillie, one of the UK’s most elusive and threatened woodland birds, after its numbers plunged. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said the latest population survey found its estimated population had fallen from roughly 1,114 in 2015/16 to about 542 birds last winter, […]
Extinction clock ticking for the capercaillie with less than 500 in the wild, warn experts
Capercaillie numbers have been falling for decades and despite repeated attempts to boost the population it can now only be found in the Highlands. Experts from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) said that when surveys started in 1991, capercaillie numbered approximately 2,200 birds, spread from Argyll and Perthshire to the south and west […]
Game over – the Ritz takes grouse off the menu in victory for environment campaigners
From 12 August to early December, it’s usually possible to walk into old-fashioned fine dining establishments across the country and order the rare British delicacy that is grouse, frequently served with bread sauce and game chips. But those hoping to eat the tiny game bird in the gilded Ritz dining room in London will be […]
Pheasant meat sold for food found to contain many tiny shards of toxic lead
Eating pheasant killed using lead shot is likely to expose consumers to raised levels of lead in their diet, even if the meat is carefully prepared to remove the shotgun pellets and the most damaged tissue. A study has found that pheasants killed by lead shot contain many fragments of lead too small to detect […]