After a two-year span when I saw no more than a total of two or three grey patridges in Lincolnshire, I have this year seen birds at no fewer than nine different locations in the east of the county.
By contrast, over the same period I have had only one sighting of a French partridge (which had become a more plentiful species at least over the past decade).
Is there data suggesting a significant recent population fluctuation for either or both species - or are my observations just happenstance?
Can anyone advise why the species are so seldom seen together? Is there a fundamental difference in habitat/ food preference? Would captive-bred birds co-exist in an aviary or would there be conflict?
Also, are either / both species vulnerable to the countywide increase in buzzard numbers?
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