Two pairs of corncrakes have been recorded on Rathlin Island for the first time in 30 years, with one of the males potentially ‘coupled up’ with two female birds.
Amy Forde on 28 Jul 2019
For the first time in 30 years, it has been confirmed that there are two pairs of corncrakes on Rathlin Island, off the coast of Ballycastle, Co Antrim.
The corncrake is a red-listed species in Ireland, meaning it is a bird of high conservation concern.
Rathlin is the only place in Northern Ireland where the birds have been heard in recent years, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
A male has been heard calling in one location on Rathlin each year since 2016 and now RSPB Northern Ireland staff have recorded two breeding males in two separate sites on the island this summer.
Known for their unmistakeable "crex-crex" call, corncrakes are highly secretive and like to settle in early growing tall vegetation such as nettles, cow parsley and irises.
One of the sites - in Church Bay - is on land owned by an islander but managed by RSPB NI that has had nettles planted by staff and teams of volunteers to encourage the birds – summer migrants from western Africa – to return to Rathlin.
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