ON THE WILD SIDE
The curlew is the largest UK wading bird, with a body about the size of a large pheasant (without the tail) plus long legs, a long neck and a very distinctive downwardly curving beak that earned its Latin name, which translates as “bow-shaped new moon”. That beak is designed for pushing deep into soft mud to catch worms, shrimp and shellfish.
Curlew have fairly unremarkable, mottled brown feathers which act as good camouflage.
The bird’s common name was first coined in the 1300s and is a written version of its famously haunting call.
In the winter these birds make their home along coasts and estuaries, and in fields close to the sea.
In the summer they move inland and make their nests on upland meadows, moorlands and in moist grassland. It’s here where you will hear their mysterious calling throughout the spring. That sound
SWIFTS have finally made it to our shores, the last of our spring migrants. Their smaller cousins, the martins, have been here a while and are now making muddy nests under the eaves of houses. Listen for their noisy chicks. has been linked to the supernatural and is said by some to be the cries of souls looking for a way home. Curlews nest on the ground, scraping a little furrow in the grass and laying up to six eggs there.
They often choose to make their nests close to those of kestrels. The falcons may predate their chicks but they will also keep away other nastier predators. Britain is home to a quarter of the world’s common curlews, but changes in farming and the draining of wetlands means numbers have seen a startling decline in recent years – down by a half in England, more than 80% in Wales and 90% in Ireland.