The grey partridge in Switzerland: gone because pesticides mattered more than biodiversity

As late as the middle of the 20th century, around 10,000 grey partridges lived in Switzerland's arable farming regions. In the Grisons, breeding pairs were found at altitudes of up to 1,300 metres above sea level. Then came the intensification of agriculture: pesticides, herbicides, land consolidation, monocultures. The insects disappeared, the wild herbs disappeared, the fallow land disappeared. And with them the grey partridge. As a breeding bird, the grey partridge has all but vanished from Switzerland; the 2021 Red List of breeding birds classes it as "critically endangered" (CR). The Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach calls it a "sad witness to the impoverishment of the cultivated landscape". Yet to this day it remains on the federal list of huntable species. In Germany, according to NABU, the population has collapsed by 87 per cent since 1980. The grey partridge was chosen as Bird of the Year 2026, a last cry for help. This dossier documents what has happened, why reintroduction attempts failed and what the grey partridge reveals about the state of our agriculture.

Profile and biology

Characteristics

The grey partridge (Perdix perdix) belongs to the order of gamebirds (Galliformes) and the pheasant family (Phasianidae). It is around 30 centimetres long and weighs 290 to 470 grams. Its predominantly brownish-grey plumage makes it a master of camouflage. Adult birds have an orange-brown facial pattern and a blackish-brown, horseshoe-shaped belly patch. The grey partridge is found from western Europe to western central Siberia, mainly in lowlands below 600 metres. Its original habitat is steppe and wooded steppe; only agriculture turned it into a species that follows human cultivation.

Way of life and diet

Grey partridges live in pairs or in so-called «coveys» (family groups with young). They are ground-dwelling, shy birds that rarely fly. Adults feed on blades of grass, wild herbs and seeds. In the first weeks of life, the chicks depend entirely on insects and spiders. This is precisely where the problem lies: where pesticides kill the insects and herbicides eliminate the wild herbs, the chicks starve. Chick mortality rose from around 50 per cent in the 1930s to over 70 per cent, the central mechanism behind the population collapse.

Red List status

In Switzerland: «critically endangered» (CR) according to the 2021 Red List of Breeding Birds, which at the same time speaks of the «virtual disappearance» of the grey partridge from low-lying farmland. In Germany: endangered (category 2), 35,000 to 61,000 breeding pairs, population decline of 87 per cent since 1980 (NABU). Europe-wide: 94 per cent population decline since 1980. Bird of the Year 2026 in Germany (NABU/LBV).

Why the grey partridge has disappeared from Switzerland

Intensive agriculture as the main cause

The collapse of the grey partridge population in Switzerland began in the second half of the 20th century, in step with the intensification of agriculture. Pesticides wiped out the insects on which the chicks live. Herbicides eliminated the wild herbs that provided adult birds with food and cover. Land consolidation removed hedges, field margins and fallow land that served as nesting sites. Early mowing turned meadows into ecological traps for ground-dwelling birds. Fields grew larger, while the diversity of crops declined. The result: a habitat in which the grey partridge could no longer survive.

A failed reintroduction

In 1991 the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) commissioned the Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach with a conservation project. In the Klettgau (SH) and in the Champagne genevoise, habitats were improved in close cooperation with farmers: flower fallows, low hedgerows, extensive meadows. In the Klettgau, where the grey partridge had died out in the early 1990s, partridges were released from 2002 onwards. By 2004 the population had grown to around 20 breeding pairs. After the snowy winter of 2005/2006 it collapsed to five pairs. According to the Ornithological Institute, breeding success was too low overall, and the ecologically improved habitat proved too small. No more partridges have been released since 2008 (Canton of Schaffhausen, press release of 3 July 2007; Cantonal Government of SH, written question 14/2009). In the Champagne genevoise, in the canton of Geneva, which has a hunting ban but no hunting of predators, the project likewise failed. The reason was not the lack of fox hunting, but the lack of habitat: too few insects, too little structure, too many pesticides.

The grey partridge as a symptom

The Swiss Ornithological Institute places the disappearance of the grey partridge within a series of farmland species that can no longer survive in Switzerland: the woodchat shrike, crested lark, great grey shrike, lesser grey shrike, ortolan bunting and now the grey partridge. The 2021 Red List of breeding birds warns: after the disappearance of the grey partridge and the ortolan bunting, the turtle dove and the corn bunting are also increasingly threatened. Their survival in Switzerland is in question. The grey partridge is not an isolated case but an indicator of the systematic collapse of biodiversity in agricultural land.

More on this: Dossier: Hunting and Biodiversity

The situation in Europe: 94 per cent loss

Germany: Bird of the Year 2026

In Germany, only 35,000 to 61,000 breeding pairs remain; in 1999 there were 56,000 to 91,000. Since 1980 the population has shrunk by 87 per cent, according to NABU. NABU and LBV have chosen it as Bird of the Year 2026. NABU has also lodged a complaint against Germany with the European Commission, because the federal government and the Länder have violated the EU Birds Directive for decades. In Germany, the grey partridge is still hunted in many federal states despite its dramatic decline.

Europe: a continent losing its farmland birds

A 2023 study published in 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' analysed observation data on 170 bird species at more than 20,000 sites in 28 European countries. The result: the main cause of bird species loss is intensive agriculture using synthetic pesticides. The link between pesticide use and the decline in insects on the one hand, and the collapse in populations of insect-eating birds on the other, is scientifically proven. In German protected areas, the biomass of flying insects fell by more than three quarters within 27 years (Hallmann et al. 2017, PLOS ONE). Of the roughly 600 wild bee species in Germany, around half are considered endangered or extinct.

The role of recreational hunting

Hunting despite collapse

In Switzerland, the grey partridge remains on the list of huntable species to this day, with a closed season from 1 December to 15 October (JSG, Art. 5 para. 1 let. l). The Federal Hunting Statistics show over 3,000 grey partridges shot per year in the 1960s (1962: 3,750); the last kills date from 1987. In Germany, too, it continues to be hunted in several federal states, even though its population has collapsed by 87 per cent. NABU explicitly calls for hunting to be stopped. Recreational hunters are not solely to blame for the disappearance of the grey partridge, but they have never campaigned to have the species removed from the list of huntable species. In Switzerland, other Red List species such as the woodcock, rock ptarmigan and brown hare continue to be hunted: in 2025, 1,400 woodcocks, 1,343 brown hares and 223 rock ptarmigans were killed (Swiss Hunting Statistics 2025).

The hunting alibi: 'Predators are to blame'

The hunting lobby argues that the grey partridge disappeared because of a lack of 'predator hunting'. The fact that the reintroduction project in the Champagne genevoise failed without predator hunting is cited as proof. But the facts contradict this: the project also failed in the Klettgau, where predators were hunted: in the project area, a total of 47 foxes were shot between 1999 and 2009 (Regierungsrat SH, Kleine Anfrage 14/2009). Chick mortality is primarily due to a lack of insects caused by pesticides, not to predation. The fox was never the main reason for the disappearance of the grey partridge in Switzerland. Industrial agriculture was.

What needs to change

Pesticide reduction as a priority: The EU Pesticide Reduction Directive must be implemented consistently. Switzerland needs binding reduction targets for synthetic pesticides and herbicides in arable farming areas – not as a recommendation, but as law.
10 per cent ecological priority areas: On every farm, at least 10 per cent of the land must be taken out of production and returned to nature as fallow land, flower strips, low hedgerows or field margins. Fallow land is the most important habitat for grey partridges and hundreds of other species.
Remove all endangered species from the hunting list: In Switzerland, woodcock, rock ptarmigan, brown hare and other Red List species are still being hunted. This is incompatible with species protection. Endangered species belong on the protection list, not on the kill list.
Measure agricultural policy by biodiversity: Swiss agricultural policy (AP) must enshrine biodiversity targets as binding. Direct payments must be tied more strongly to ecological performance, not to production volume.
Long-term monitoring and reintroduction projects: New reintroduction attempts only make sense if the habitats have been restored beforehand. Without insects, without fallow land, without wild herbs, there is no grey partridge.

Talking points

“The grey partridge disappeared because foxes were not hunted.” Even in the Klettgau, where foxes were hunted, the reintroduction failed. The main cause of the grey partridge's decline is the lack of insects due to pesticides, not predation. Across Europe, populations have collapsed by 94 per cent, in countries with and without fox hunting alike. Making the fox the scapegoat distracts from the real cause: industrial agriculture.

“The grey partridge can be re-established by releasing birds.” Two decades of reintroduction attempts in Switzerland (Klettgau SH, Champagne genevoise) have failed. Releases do not work if the habitat is not right. Without insects, the chicks starve. Without fallow land, there are no nesting sites. The habitat must be restored first; only then can reintroduction be considered.

“The grey partridge has always been rare in Switzerland.” Wrong. In the mid-20th century, the population was estimated at around 10,000 individuals. In earlier centuries, the grey partridge was even more widespread. It was only the intensification of agriculture after 1950 that systematically destroyed its habitat.

«The disappearance of the grey partridge is a local problem.» The population has collapsed by 94 per cent across Europe. In Switzerland it has effectively disappeared, and in Germany it is severely endangered. The grey partridge is an indicator species: where it vanishes, the skylark, whinchat, lapwing and corn bunting disappear too. The problem is systemic and directly linked to EU agricultural policy and Swiss agricultural policy.

«Agriculture cannot afford the measures being demanded.» The EU spends around a third of its budget on agricultural subsidies. Switzerland pays out billions in direct payments. There is no lack of money, but a lack of political will to take biodiversity targets seriously. Ten per cent priority areas and pesticide reduction are not luxury demands but conditions for survival for hundreds of species.

Quick links

Articles on Wild beim Wild

Related dossiers:

sources

Swiss Ornithological Institute Sempach (2020): Grey partridge: another farmland species has disappeared. Status report
FOEN / Swiss Ornithological Institute (2021): Red List of Breeding Birds (grey partridge: CR) (bafu.admin.ch)
FOEN, Federal Hunting Statistics: Kill and release of grey partridge 1933–2025, retrieved on 21.10.2026 (jagdstatistik.ch)
Canton of Schaffhausen / Swiss Ornithological Institute (2007): Pause in the reintroduction of the grey partridge in the Klettgau. Press release of 3 July 2007
Cantonal Government of Schaffhausen (2009): Minor interpellation 14/2009 concerning Widen/grey partridge project
Hallmann, C. A. et al. (2017): More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas. PLOS ONE
NABU (2025): Speak up for the grey partridge! Campaign for Bird of the Year 2026
NABU: EU complaint against Germany over the Birds Directive (grey partridge)
Rigal, S., Devictor, V. et al. (2023): Farmland practices are driving bird population decline across Europe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung: How can the grey partridge be saved? PARTRIDGE project
Umweltinstitut München (2025): Bird of the Year 2026. Why the grey partridge is a symbol of species extinction
Swiss Ornithological Institute: Breeding population index for grey partridge since 1990, reintroduction projects Klettgau SH and Champagne genevoise
Federal Act on Hunting and the Protection of Wild Mammals and Birds (JSG, SR 922.0), Art. 5 para. 1 let. l

Our Standard

The grey partridge did not die of old age. It was wiped out by an agricultural policy that put production volume above biodiversity. 10,000 grey partridges disappeared because pesticides were cheaper than biodiversity. What has already happened in Switzerland now threatens Germany and the whole of Europe: the systematic loss of farmland birds. The grey partridge stands for the skylark, whinchat, lapwing and corn bunting. Its disappearance is a warning signal that no one can afford to ignore. That threatened species such as the woodcock, rock ptarmigan and brown hare may still be hunted in Switzerland shows that politicians have learned nothing from the grey partridge disaster. This dossier is updated continuously.

More on the topic of recreational hunting: in our hunting dossier we bring together fact checks, analyses and background reports.