Saving the Song of the Curlew
The whole team at Let’s Go Peak District loves curlews … so much so that we incorporated the curlew into our logo! Their unforgettable, haunting call is the song of the Peak District moors, the herald of Spring after the long winter. And anyone who has ever stood and watched their elegant swoops over the heather and gritstone knows that it’s a sight to enchant even the most indifferent heart.
But curlew numbers are declining very quickly. In only the last 50 years around 65% of the population throughout England and Scotland has disappeared.
The team at Let’s Go Peak District feels strongly that the sight and sound of the curlew is something that we cannot afford to lose, which is why we were delighted to hear about the work of Curlew Action, a charity advocating for the conservation of this inimitable bird, working alongside landowners, farmers and policy-makers to share information, knowledge and experience.
Find out more about them here, and how you can help in the effort to save the song of the curlew…
What has happened to the curlew?
Curlews have seen a 65% decline in the UK since 1970, mainly due to changes in agricultural landscape preventing them from raising chicks to fledging.
An increase in silage, which is cut earlier in the season and at intervals of 5-6 weeks, prevents chicks from growing fast enough to escape machinery.
Predators like foxes and crows are on the rise as their food supply increases and reforestation programs create habitat that is unsuitable for these birds, replacing it with habitat well suited to foxes and badgers.
Hear the song of the curlew
Click here to listen to the distinctive song of the curlew:
About Curlew Action
In January 2020 a small group of dedicated curlew lovers joined filmmaker and writer Mary Colwell to form a charity designed to take proactive action to reverse the 60 year-long decline towards extinction of the breeding curlew.
Since that time Curlew Action has raised tens of thousands of pounds to help preserve and protect the curlew and its habitat, and they have secured the patronage of singer-songwriter David Gray. They now have a huge following of people from a range of backgrounds.
What we do
Curlew Action supports curlew recovery by advocating for conservation efforts, developing and sharing resources for fieldworkers, and promoting wider natural history education.
The projects by Curlew Action involve information exchange, sharing knowledge and experience while working alongside landowners, farmers and policy-makers.
Their Fieldworker’s Toolkit consists of a set of resources to help fieldworkers monitor, record and protect breeding curlews. These resources include electric fences to protect nests from foxes and badgers, as well as temperature loggers and cameras to collect more data on nesting curlews and to monitor disturbances.
Caring into the future
How you can help
Please consider following Curlew Action on their social media platforms to help share the information and build an awareness of their campaign.
If you’d like to make a financial donation to help save the song of the curlew, you can do this via the Curlew Action website. All donations will be used to support these magnificent birds and to increase environmental education.
Thank you.
