Seeds and hunting

The treated seeds

Soon we will have to plant the autumn cereal and this is a problem for partridges and other fauna. The seeds are treated with imidacloprid an insecticide to protect them from pests that can currently only be used for autumn crops, being banned in spring. It is used by applying it to crops and seeds, which is a problem.

Nowadays, much of the winter diet of partridges and other birds is crop seeds. The lack of winter stubble, of long-lasting fallow trees (those that are not tilled for one or more years) and the loss of borders, banks and ditches, relegate partridges in many ways to live like the farmer, who gives the bench.

The consequences

Feeding on treated seeds is lethal to partridges and other wildlife. El IREC (Hunting Resources Research Institute under the CSIC) has found that feeding on “armored” seeds causes a high mortality of partridges, birdflies, calandries or sisons. In addition, it has been proven that the quality of the laying of females that survive poisoning by Imidacloprid is lower.

It is clear that the farmer needs to carry out his cultivation and that is why he uses this method. It is also clear that birds cannot be prevented from digging and removing seeds. But there are some things we can do.

The Solution

The first and easiest thing is to avoid leaving lots of unburied seeds on the bench. This happens many times when filling the planter or opening the bags. These seeds should be buried or collected, but they should not be left uncovered. Each one of these piles can fill the bush with lots of partridges, who will be happy to gorge themselves with so much good, easy-to-get food. And this is going to kill them. It will produce poisoning that will end up destroying their liver. That is why we must make these “piles” of grain disappear, whatever they may be and that partridges or other birds can consume them. Making a hole with a shovel or a hoe and burying the seeds for an inch is quick and easy. And it will save many partridges and other birds.

And the other thing we can do is offer partridges alternatives to their diet, as we will see in the next post dedicated to this topic.

In the following video we show you the importance of keeping vegetation patches, turn up the volume and enjoy the “Picadillo de Mayo”