URGENT WORK to ensure the future of the curlew, which experts say has dwindled in numbers to a few hundred breeding pairs, is under way in the Border counties.
BirdWatch Ireland reported this weekend more than €30,000 has been received in donations to its “Cry of the Curlew” appeal set up to conserve the bird as an Irish breeding species. It said the birds have been suffering declines for years and estimated about 80 per cent of the curlew breeding population has been lost since the 1970s.
The bird is still a regular sight along our coasts in winter when migrant birds from northern Europe come here to take advantage of our relatively mild winters, feeding in our estuaries and wetlands in large numbers. However, it is our resident breeding population that is in danger of extinction and BirdWatch believe there are only a few hundred breeding pairs remaining.
BirdWatch has appointed Dr Anita Donaghy to manage its curlew work, which includes a new programme funded by the Special EU Programmes Body, to pilot habitat restoration for curlews in the Border counties.
This three-year project, entitled Halting Environmental Loss Project (Help), is being carried out in partnership with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in Northern Ireland and southwest Scotland with the aim of sharing best-practice management and advisory techniques.
Dr Donaghy said the two main aims of the BirdWatch Ireland element of the Help project were the trialling of habitat restoration techniques and the establishment of a baseline population estimate for curlews in the Border counties.
“We would be very grateful for any recent records of breeding curlews in Donegal and other Border counties as they would enable us to further our investigations,” said Dr Donaghy, who is based in Letterkenny.
To complement this work, a research project to examine habitat associations of breeding curlews in upland areas has commenced. Hannah Denniston from Waterford is leading this research, based at NUI Cork and in conjunction with BirdWatch Ireland. Understanding the habitat factors driving the decline in curlew populations is vital to developing appropriate conservation measures.
Those contributing to the Cry of the Curlew appeal can buy a ditch-block to rewet rushy pasture for better breeding conditions or €50 will pay for a curlew search in an upland area. €100 will pay for wetland edge to provide a feeding area for wader chicks; € 500 will pay for a research fieldworker for a week and € 1,000 will pay for five hectares of grassland management treatments for one year.
Anyone wanting to report breeding curlews can call BirdWatch Ireland on 01-2819878.