The recently published GWCT Research Report 2025 provides details about the Partridge Count Scheme: "Grey Partridge Counts" by Morgan Hartman & Julie Ewald (p 56-57).

Partridge counts offer valuable insight into how well partridges breed, survive and benefit from habitat management and provision throughout the year. The Partridge Count Scheme measure how well the birds have fared during the previous six months, when they are easily monitored, with counts recorded in spring and autumn.

Weather conditions play a significant role in shaping the breeding season. Winter 2024/2025 was milder than average, except for a brief spell in January. Spring 2025 was the warmest recorded since 1884, followed by the warmest UK summer on record. Harvesting began unusually early in parts of the country due to the prolonged dry conditions. This extended dryness also raised concerns about insect availability for grey partridge chicks: insects depend on moist – not dry – conditions. An adequate food supply is key to chick early survival and development. 

Key Findings

• National average spring pair density on Partridge Count Scheme sites decreased to 4.7 pairs per 100ha, down 8% from 2024.
• Summer productivity, measured as Young-to-Old ratio, increased to 3.1 young birds per adult, well above the level needed to maintain grey partridge count numbers.
• Autumn 2025 saw improved counting participation wih 398 counts returned, an 11% increase on 2024.
• National average autumn density increased by 40% to 25.1 birds per 100ha, with all mainland regions except southern England and Scotland showing substantial increases.

The strong breeding season and improved autumn densities provide an encouraging foundation for 2026.

Find out more about the Partridge Count Scheme at gwct.org.uk/pcs.

Information extracted from the GWCT Research Report 2025.

The grey partridge has suffered a dramatic decline over the past 30 years. The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), with funding from the British Falconers' Club (BFC), is conducting research to identify the causes of this decline and develop strategies to restore grey partridge populations. This initiative was filmed and produced by wildlife conservationist and filmmaker Fergus Beeley, as a joint project between the BFC and GWCT.

https://youtu.be/OG5y6EEz5ho?si=m8Q4nQ8M2FI5o0mv

The grey partridge was once a familiar sight across the British countryside, but its population has suffered a dramatic 94% decline since the 1980s. Listed on the UK’s Red List since its inception in 1996, the grey partridge has now virtually disappeared from Northern Ireland and most of Britain’s western coast—surviving only in places such as Anglesey—and continues to vanish from many parts of its former range. It is five to midnight for the grey partridge.

In the early 2010s, there were encouraging signs that members of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s (GWCT) Partridge Count Scheme (PCS) had helped reverse national declines. Unfortunately, this progress was short-lived.

Dr Julie Ewald, GWCT Principal Scientist for Farmland Ecology and GIS, explains: “Since the setbacks of the wet summer of 2012, numbers have remained low, with breeding densities in 2023 reaching lows last recorded twenty years previously.”

Watch the YouTube video to learn more about the GWCT’s Grey Partridge Appeal and how you can help save this iconic farmland bird.

https://youtu.be/I3lX46rB-UQ

Eleven partners from the Interreg North Sea Region (NSR) PARTRIDGE project, led by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, met in Göttingen, Germany between June 27 and 29 for their third meeting.

The International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey arranged a launch for Perdixnet in an event at the Bozar Centre for ine Arts in Brussels. The site is in 18 languages, also now linking to national sites in two languages.

Translators are being found for the site by the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey for the English version now online. Then a covey of sites will launch across Europe in winter.