Red-billed Choughs are a member of the crow family. In Scotland, they are only found on the Hebridean islands of Islay and Colonsay. The population has reduced in range and size over the last 30 years, with only 45 breeding pairs remaining.
Red-billed Choughs are a Species of European Conservation Concern and a Schedule 1 species in Scotland and the UK. The species is dependent on nature-friendly farming, in particular mixed species grazing on coastal heath and grassland. They breed in coastal caves and old farm buildings, feeding mainly on soil and dung invertebrates and therefore require access to open grazed habitats rich in invertebrate life.
Recent research has shown that the Scottish population will be extinct within 50 years without improved habitat management and genetic reinforcement.
Image: David Evans (CC-BY-2.0)
Action Needed
- Support sustainable landscape-scale habitat management and agricultural practises.
- Press for well-funded and targeted farm support specific to Chough.
- Support Chough population reinforcement to address low genetic diversity in the Scottish population.
- Support emergency supplementary feeding and parasite treatment.
- Ensure grassland management policies are practised at key habitats.
Threats
- Low first year survival attributed to reduced prey abundance and availability.
- Loss of active farming and reduction in livestock numbers on Islay and Colonsay on key Chough habitats and designated sites, particularly on important grazed dune systems needed by juveniles and sub-adults.
- Uncertainty over the future availability of agri-environmental payments for appropriate land management practices.
- Small and isolated population leading in the long term to the effects of in-breeding depression, exacerbating the existing genetic issues.
- Impacts of livestock veterinary medicines on the abundance and variety of dung invertebrates available as prey.
MSP Nature Champion
