Red grouse by sheep. Conservation measures taken on foot of the judgment have seen the population in the area double from 400 to 800. The red grouse is considered a game bird and is shot in large numbers during the shooting season which traditionally starts on August 12, known as the Glorious Twelfth. There is a keen competition among some London restaurants to serve freshly killed grouse on August 12, with the birds being flown from the moors and cooked within hours. Shooting can take the form of 'walked up' (where shooters walk across the moor to flush grouse and take a
Driven grouse shooting correlated with higher densities of red grouse, golden plover, curlew, lapwing, redshank and ring ouzel. Research has also shown that on moors managed for grouse shooting, ground nesting birds such as curlew and lapwing, both of which are species of the highest conservation concern in the UK, are 3.5 times more likely to raise a chick to fledgling stage. Studies on a former grouse moor in Berwyn found that within 20 years of grouse moor management ending, lapwing became extinct at the site, golden plover declined by 90 per cent, and curlew declined by 79 per cent. However, research also