Curlews will try again, making a new nest nearby and laying another clutch. This is where WWT’s unique position as both wetland conservation charity and a specialist bird breeder comes in. The Eurasian Curlew, for example, has seen its European breeding population decline by at least one-third in 30 years due to loss of its grassland habitat, and significant declines have also been recorded in central Asian populations. They show cinnamon wing linings in … As a ground-nesting bird, industrial farming machines could well be a problem for them. We're counting down to hatching day.". The owner of the land has very kindly given his permission to me to fence the nests, and agreed not to cut sileage immediately nearby. It’s a romantic soundtrack to wild and windblown landscapes. Right now small charities stretched to breaking point. It’s a sort of bubbling sound which echoes beautifully around upland and lowland wetlands. stone-curlews. Detailed local studies have implicated nest predation and low breeding productivity as causes of decline… Photo by WWT. “A range of potential causes of Eurasian Curlew decline have been suggested, from agricultural intensification to climate change,” Dr Samantha Franks, lead author of the study, commented. If you can help save our local curlews, we’d be so grateful. Morecambe Bay Partnership have ornithologists who oversee the fencing and coordinate work for the best success. Birds are really alert on the nests and stay awake when they are sitting, even at night. Curlews are also declining more widely across their global breeding range and, consequently, their IUCN status is near threatened. Thus, the population decline became apparent in spring throughout the plains states in 1875-1880. Photo by WWT. The plan is to hatch and rear them, and release them into the wild in areas where landowners want to help create the conditions for them to thrive. Both nests are good for now. Do you have a favourite wader? Text by Susannah. The main reason for this decline is poor breeding success, which in turn has been caused by the loss of the damp rough grassy habitat where curlews like to nest, as well as predation..Photo credit Tim Melling. The UK may hold 17-25% of the global breeding population of Eurasian curlew but numbers are declining rapidly. Within this overall decline, there is variability between regions in how populations are faring. A … The British countryside is no longer a safe place for curlews to raise their young. Celebrate and conserve; connect and collaborate, Stop, Look and Listen for Wildlife this Winter around Morecambe Bay, All charities see increase demand and need in 2020 . The scary news is that UK’s curlews are in serious decline. Yet it will fall silent unless we act now. Between 1995 and 2016 the population of breeding curlews in Wales declined by 63% and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) fears there could now be fewer than 400 breeding pairs left in the country. The curlew is an iconic bird which nests in upland and lowland grasslands and is close to the hearts and minds of many people in Wales. We’ll consider all the factors and try to build a picture. And there is always the continual loss of wetland habitat to contend with, use of chemicals, and much more. We want stone-curlews to be a treasured flagship for the landscapes that support them and the thousands of other species that share their habitat, some of which are only found in these places. About If the curlew dies out in the UK, they are in real danger of disappearing from the earth all together. We are protecting eider nests at their Under normal circumstances, the eggs from nests near military runways are destroyed under licence to protect flight safety. 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