Intestinal nematodes of shot wild grey partridges in Norfolk, England

GREY partridges (Perdix perdix) were once the most common gamebird in England (Tapper 1992), but declined by 88 per cent from 1967 to 2006 (Baillie and others 2009) owing to changing agricultural practices (Potts 1986, Aebischer and Ewald 2004). In the last 10 years, some farms have undertaken determined efforts to reverse the decline and have achieved significant population increases (Draycott 2012, Aebischer and Ewald 2010). These increases have been achieved through a combination of habitat improvements, wildlife friendly farming and game management techniques including predation control and supplementary feeding (Aebischer and Ewald 2004). Gamebirds are prone to parasitic infection with intestinal nematodes, especially when they are managed at high densities (Hudson 1992, Portal and Collinge 1932, Draycott and others 2000). During the 1930's, the parasite Trichostrongylus tenuis caused high mortality and reduced breeding success in partridges (Portal and Collinge 1932). However, Potts (2009) showed that from 1950's T tenuis was no longer important. Heterakis gallinarum, a caecal nematode, is common in gamebirds, especially pheasants (Draycott …