Wading bird numbers rise with predator control

SCOTLAND'S threatened moorland wading bird population could see their numbers rise if farmers and landowners adopted traditional predator control techniques, a major scientific study has found.

Breeding pairs of curlew, lapwing and golden plovers were three times more likely to raise a chick where gamekeepers controlled fox, crow, stoat and weasel numbers.

The findings from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), a leading research charity, released yesterday measured bird numbers and breeding success on four test sites over nine years – one of the longest running studies of its kind.

Dr Adam Smith, the GWCT's director for Scotland, said: "The clear cut results of this study support calls for the extension of predator control options in the Scottish Rural Development Programme so that this proven management technique is available to moorland managers across the country and not simply tied to black grouse conservation."