Four Great bustard chicks hatch in the wild in the UK

**whitestarling** Mon Jun 14, 2010 7:24 pm

Four Great bustard chicks hatch in the wild in the UK
10/06/2010 14:33:31
At least 4 Great bustard chicks have hatched in the UK this year.
Great bustards on the rise
June 2010. One of the most spectacular birds on the planet, the Great Bustard looks set to consolidate its return to the UK with the news that four chicks hatched so far this year and that there are 4 confirmed nests.

2 chicks in 2009
The Great Bustard, which became extinct in Britain as a nesting bird in 1832, successfully nested last year, when two pairs fledged two chicks on Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire.

David Waters, Founder and Director of the Great Bustard Group, said: "Last year was a milestone for the project, this year really does give confirmation that the project is well on its way to achieving its aims of a self sustaining population in the UK. After so many years of work, it is great to see the results. "

Reintroduction started in 2004 - Chicks imported from Russia
A reintroduction trial, led by the Great Bustard Group, began in 2004 using bustards reared from eggs rescued from cultivation in Saratov Oblast in Southern Russia. The chicks are reared in Russia in a partnership with the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Evolution and Ecology, a branch of the Russian National Academy of Science. When the chicks are about six weeks old they are flown into the UK, and after a period of quarantine they are released on to Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. The chicks are released under a licence issued to the Great Bustard Consortium (the Great Bustard Group, the RSPB and the University of Bath) by DEFRA.

First chicks for 177 years
The first bustard nest from the project was in 2007, and there were further nests in 2008 but the eggs from these clutches were infertile. In 2009 the oldest males became sexually mature, and the first Great Bustard chicks hatched in the wild in England after 177 years. Despite predictions that the inexperienced females would not successfully fledge chicks, two were fledged, although sadly one was predated shortly after fledging.

WS