Media release
Curlews could be lost as a
breeding species from southern England within a generation without urgent
action to save this charismatic but crisis-hit bird.
The ‘Call of the Curlew’
conference today (February 2), which brings together conservationists, policy-makers,
landowners and farmers, will hear how the much-loved bird’s fortunes can be
reversed if we take action now.
The curlew’s UK population has
almost halved since the mid-1990s, chiefly because of reduced breeding success,
strongly linked to predation and the loss of suitable nesting habitat.
In the southern English lowlands,
there are possibly only 200 pairs of breeding curlews left.
RSPB conservation officer Phil
Sheldrake, who helped organise today’s conference, said: “We have turned around
the fortunes of other birds such as cirl buntings and stone curlews in southern
England, and we can do the same for the curlew.
“This is one of the largest
single-species conferences we have held, the interest and enthusiasm shown has
been incredible and if we can harness that it will be a giant step towards
securing the call of the curlew for future generations to enjoy.”
Fellow organiser Mary Colwell,
who last year walked 500 miles from the west coast of Ireland to Lincolnshire,
to highlight the bird’s plight, said: “To lose the curlew from southern England
would be to lose part of our heritage.
“This lovely bird and its
evocative call are woven into the lives of people. We would be losing more than
just another species – they are part of who we are.”
The curlew – properly the
Eurasian curlew – is the UK’s largest wading bird and its evocative
‘curlee-curlee’ call is a signature sound of moors and marshes, particularly in
the breeding season.
Geoff Hilton, the Wildlife and
Wetlands Trust’s (WWT) head of conservation science, said: “The cry of the
curlew has inspired generations of writers and musicians; it is one of those
species that, like the crane and the eel, everyone can recognise and it
immediately brings to mind wild wetland landscapes.”
In the lowland countryside, the
loss of hay meadows and wet grassland has contributed to the curlew’s decline
as a breeding species. Good nesting habitat in upland areas has also come under
pressure, and overall the curlew’s breeding range in the UK has contracted by
roughly 17 per cent in recent years.
The UK hosts roughly a quarter of
the world’s breeding curlews and population decline here is having a greater
impact than in any other country. The bird is classified as near threatened by
the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the only near threatened
species where the UK has a substantial part of the global breeding population.
Follow the story at: https://www.facebook.com/RSPBSW/
Ends
For further information, images,
or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Chris Baker, RSPB Communications
Officer, 01392 453299 / 07701 050010 or Mark Simpson, WWT Communications
Officer, 01453 891138 / 07825 890590
Notes:
The ‘Call of the Curlew’ conference
takes place at the WWT’s Slimbridge Wetland Centre on Thursday, February 2.
Media organisations are invited to attend from 13.00 to 14.00 (or at other
times by prior appointment) where conference delegates will be available for
interview.
Organisations involved in
organising the conference include Curlew Media, the Gloucestershire Wildlife
Trust, the RSPB and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.
The curlew’s breeding population
in Scotland declined by 55 per cent between 1995 and 2013, and in England by 32
per cent; trends cannot be calculated for Wales or Northern Ireland because the
bird now occupies too few places. In the Republic of Ireland there are thought
to be barely more than 120 breeding pairs.
Breeding Eurasian curlews should
not be confused with wintering Eurasian curlews, where a major influx from
Europe means large numbers can be seen in winter, on estuaries and salt marshes
all round the UK and Ireland.
The Eurasian curlew is one of
eight curlew species. Of them, the Eskimo curlew may be extinct, there has not
been a confirmed sighting for about 30 years; the slender-billed curlew is
critically endangered and highly likely to become the first European bird to
become extinct since the great auk in 1852.
The similarly named stone curlew
is an unrelated species.
For information about the RSPB’s
Curlew Recovery Programme see: https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/conservation-projects/details/400395-curlew-recovery-programme
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Chris Baker
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Communications Officer
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Tel: 01392 453299
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Mobile: 07701 050010
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South West Regional Office, 4th
Floor (North Block), Broadwalk House, Southernhay West, Exeter, Devon, EX1
1TS
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