Scottish Independent Media

By Claire Elliot

A BREEDER of Scotland’s rare capercaillie claims his birds are being spooked to death by low-flying aircraft.

 Alistair Mackie, who rears the endangered grouse and eight other species at his home, says he normally loses at least two birds every year to the noise of military jets.

 But, with five fatalities - two capercaillie and three black grouse - since October, he claims “enough is enough”.

The 47-year-old, whose concerns have been compounded by the start of the breeding season, has now called on the RAF to change its flight path.

He wants pilots to avoid flying directly over his home, near Huntly, Aberdeenshire.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence, however, today (Thursday) said there was “no evidence” to suggest that fast jets have any affect on the breeding habits of birds.

And he added that new avoidance zones are only made in “exceptional circumstances”.

Mr Mackie fears that unless this happens, the low-flying sorties will continue to impede his efforts to preserve one of Scotland’s most iconic and endangered birds.

“The problem is when the birds get spooked they fly straight up and hit the roof, breaking their necks,” he said.

 “When you find one lying dead it’s a sickening feeling. They are so rare, it’s just heart-breaking”

Mr Mackie, who has around 100 birds, sources birds from all over Europe and will pay £200 for a capercaillie and £150 for a black grouse.

It can take two years to rear a breeding capercaillie.

Mr Mackie, said: “When you get one to that age and have a beautiful looking hen the last thing you want is a plane flying over and in two seconds it’s dead. To get one to that age again, you have to start from square one.”
 

The capercaillie is the world’s largest grouse but it is one of the country’s most endangered, with an estimated population of just over 2,000.

Mr Mackie, said: “This area is zoned for low-flying and I understand it is vital for training. But why it is vital for them to come over the house?

“They’ve said the only places they can avoid are wind farms and centres of towns.

“But these birds are so rare, all I’m asking is they give my house a wide berth and go 500 yards to the side of it?

“It would still be loud, but it wouldn’t be directly overhead.

 “It’s the fright that kills them.”

Mr Mackie has been breeding rare species of grouse for nine years and hopes to one day reintroduce the capercaillie back into the wild.

He currently has nine of the birds, four cocks and five hens.

“The capercaillie is iconic to Scotland and I’d love to get them out in the wild because that is where they should be,” he said.

Other species Mr Mackie breeds include, red, willow, spruce and ruffed grouse.

He has written to the RAF to explain the situation and says he will continue to press for action.

It is believed the aircraft are from a base south of the border.

Specialists at the Ministry of Defence held talks today (Thursday) to consider if Mr Mackie's property “may warrant an avoidance“ as a result of him breeding capercaillie.

Speaking after the meeting a spokesman said he understood Mr Mackie’s concerns.

But he stressed: “There is no evidence, either in general or for this specific case, that low flying military fast jets have any effect on the breeding habits of birds.

“If a low-flying avoidance is sought on conservation grounds it would be considered on its merits. But we would normally expect such a request to come through or be supported by the official body for conservation, in this case Scottish National Heritage.”

He added: “Although a single request for avoidance may not seem unreasonable in isolation, the effect of creating additional restricted areas is to concentrate low flying activity into ever-smaller amounts of airspace, increasing the potential for disturbance.

“This would not be equitable, and therefore new avoidance areas that would permanently restrict low flying activity are only granted in exceptional circumstances.”

Capercaillie became extinct in Scotland in 1785 and was reintroduced in 1837.

But there is still a concern for its future.

Loss of habitat, predators, and human disturbance are cited as some of the reasons for its decline.