Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix) Science Article 3
abstract
A three-year field-based study of 85 radio-tagged female wild grey partridges Perdix perdix was undertaken during 200 -2003 in East Anglia, England, to investigate possible links between chick diet and parasite-induced disease. The females produced 30 broods, whose diet measured by f cal analysis was typical of that previously reported. Chicks in some broods, however, consumed large numbers of known parasite vectors, particularly ants. Survival to the age of six weeks of chicks in a brood declined, on average, as the percentage of ants in the diet increased.
S.J. Browne, N.J. bischer, S.J. Moreby & L. Teague, Wildl. Biol. 2: 3- 0.