After 400-year absence, now Britain’s tallest bird is soaring

BRITAIN’S tallest bird, the common crane, is here to stay after being brought back from the brink of a second extinction.

The crane, pictured below, was extinct in the UK for 400 years until two from continental Europe landed in 1979 and set up home in the Norfolk Broads. However even by 2015 there were only 20 breeding pairs.

There had been fears we could lose the birds, which can be more than 4ft tall, again as they are threatened by foxes and breed slowly, rearing one or two chicks at a time.

But conservationists who brought in 90 cranes from Germany between 2010 and 2014 are believed to have given the species the chance to thrive. A study led by the University of Exeter has found Britain could have as many as 275 breeding pairs in 50 years. In 2016, the latest figures available, there were 48 pairs, says the RSPB.

The imported birds have interbred with those already living here. There are now populations in Gwent, Gloucestershire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Yorkshire and East Scotland.

The authors of the study, which also involved the RSPB and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, say the next challenge is to ensure there is enough suitable wetland available for the birds, which pair for life, to breed safely.

Andrew Stanbury, an RSPB conservation scientist and co-author of the paper in the journal Animal Conservation, said: ‘It is always great to get the opportunity to celebrate a real conservation success story and UK cranes is one of these.

‘Thanks to a successful conservation partnership we are welcoming a charismatic species back in our countryside following a 400-year absence.’