2024/06/05 by Lemaire, Marc
#FOS: Natural sciences #Natural sciences
paper · doi:10.60768/aves.2024021
A relatively accurate hunting book, covering the period from 1890 to 1900, provides an analysis of the birds hunted around Marcourt, a village in the north of the province of Luxembourg (Belgian Ardennes). The numbers of Grey Partridge, Common Quail, Rail (probably Corncrake), Black Grouse, Eurasian Woodcock and Snipes, as well as a dozen other less common species, are listed, along with the dates, the names of the hunters and some of the precise locations where the shots were taken. Of the 6 most common taxa, only the Woodcock and the Common and Jack Snipe are still regularly found in the same places, albeit occasionally. Some species that have now disappeared were abundant at the time (over 11 years, 1123 Grey Partridges and 117 Black Grouse were killed). The overall analysis does not show any change in numbers over the 11 years, except for a downward trend in the number of partridges hunted per season. Some data on mammals is also mentioned. The reasons for these extreme disappearances or rarefactions are mentioned, such as excessive hunting, changes in the landscape, the type of farming, soil treatment, climate and disturbances.