What changes to the Poultry Register mean for gamebird releases

Pheasants (c) rspb-images.com

Today’s blog is written by Chris Calow,  Species Policy Officer, to explain what the changes to the UK Government’s Poultry Register mean for gamebird releases in England and what it might mean for gamebird licensing. 

Autumn heralds the beginning of the gamebird shooting season, where massive quantities of birds are released in the countryside. 

Pheasants and Red-legged Partridges are reared in sheds each spring and moved into pens in woodlands or cropped land in July and early August, from which they are released. 

The rear and release of non-native gamebirds is widespread across all parts of the UK, in varying degrees of intensity. According to the latest estimates, 40.6 million gamebirds are released into the UK countryside each year, which includes 31.5 million Pheasants, and 9.1 million Red-legged Partridges (Madden 2021). In addition, an estimated 2.6 million Mallards are released each year, for sport. 

Once all the birds have been released by the autumn, the total biomass of released gamebirds represents more than twice the spring biomass of all native UK breeding birds combined (estimated from Blackburn and Gaston 2018) 

Concerns about the environmental impacts 

The RSPB has concerns about the environmental impact of such large numbers of gamebirds being released into the countryside. The main issue is with large-scale shoots, which release high densities of gamebirds and can be damaging to the environment, including through: 

• Direct impacts, such as browsing of plants, predation of reptiles and invertebrates, competition for food resources eaten by native wildlife and soil enrichment.  

• Disease transmission to wildlife, like the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), also known as bird flu. 

• Changes to the balance of predators and prey, which can increase predation pressure on threatened species such as Curlew, for which low breeding productivity is preventing any chances of recovery (gamebirds can be a supplementary food source for predators, such as foxes) 

• Shooting practices, including lead shot that pollutes the environment, is ingested by scavengers and can enter the food chain. 

• Illegal persecution of protected species, including birds of prey, (which may be seen as a threat to gamebirds and thus the quality of the day’s shooting). 

The RSPB believes further regulation and better enforcement of existing rules are essential to deliver the necessary changes in the face of a nature and climate crisis. 

Changes to the Poultry Register 

The shooting season starts on 1 September for Partridges and 1 October for Pheasants, but this year there will be a major difference. For the start of this year’s Pheasant shooting season, a new bird registration system is in place requiring all bird keepers – even those who keep only a single bird – to officially register their birds, their locations, and to update their records annually. 

Previously, only people who kept more than 50 birds were required to register them with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), with no requirement to subsequently update their records. We know compliance with this was poor, making it hard to identify where the birds were coming from and hampered efforts to keep track of the spread of HPAI. 

Having a new system in place with a legal requirement for yearly updates is an important improvement, and one which the RSPB whole-heartedly welcomes 

Why does this matter? 

Until now it has been hard to know just how many gamebirds there are and where they are, making it difficult to respond to outbreaks of disease such as HPAI and monitor potential adverse effects of gamebird releases. Of course, this is reliant on the data being accessible to those who need it, so it’s important the system is run with openness and transparency. 

While it will take some time for the data to be collected, we look forward to learning more in the coming years, to help shape our approach to gamebird licensing and identify areas of risk for native wildlife. 

What do we want to see? 

We are calling for governments across the UK to license the release of non-native gamebirds, underpinned by a statutory code of practice, with mandatory reporting of movements and releases. 

We believe statutory licensing is the only way to achieve these changes and we are keen to engage with other interested parties in the design of a future licensing regime. 

Due to the current outbreak of HPAI we are also calling for the same approach to be taken to releases of Mallards, due to their susceptibility to the disease. The increased risks associated with Mallard releases have become clear – ducks can  shed the virus  asymptomatically for more than two weeks and mix with wild birds at flight ponds. 

In common with many other forms of land management, such as farming and forestry, management for gamebirds can potentially harm nature or contribute to its recovery. 

We believe licensing provides an effective means to tackle intensive management practices associated with harm, and to support those who manage their shoots sustainably. By working together and using the data provided by the poultry register, we can chart a safer course for our wildlife and protected spaces.