Breeding curlew need you

The curlew population stands on the brink of collapse.  Data shows a 46 per cent decline in breeding curlew in the UK between 1994 and 2010, with a more than 50 per cent decline in Wales and Scotland. The numbers are still in rapid decline and the species is now listed as globally near-threatened.

The UK has around a quarter of the global breeding population of curlew. However, breeding success, or lack of it, is the most pressing challenge the bird faces.

Like other ground nesting waders their principal challenges are a lack of suitable habitat for breeding, inappropriate management of what habitat exists and predation from a range of species, especially fox and carrion crow.

Curlew and other ground-nesting waders’ strongholds are in upland areas, especially where the land is managed for grouse.

In these places there are large areas of suitable habitat, untroubled by farm operations like sileage cutting. There is also effective, landscape-scale predator management.

That does not mean that curlew are an upland breeder by preference, it’s just that is where they can still survive. Historically they bred in lowland grasslands; the need to find workable solutions for people and curlew to see lowland habitats returned cannot be overstated.

BASC actively supports curlew conservation partnerships across the UK. We encourage you to investigate their webpages for news and how to engage.