New hope in race to save curlew

A glimmer of hope has been given to curlews in Britain after analysis of data identified the reasons for the bird’s rapid decline.

The population of Curlews has almost halved in the past 20 years, and the species has been proposed as the UK’S highest avian conservation priority.

As part of the Breeding Bird Survey, the British Trust for Ornithology has, for the first time, been able to document how different pressures may be responsible for the bird’s increased struggle for survival.

Curlews breed at highest densities in areas of semi-natural grassland and on moorland, and are particularly associated with the uplands.

The study, led by Dr Samantha Franks, found that curlew declines had been most pronounced in landscapes where these habitats had been converted into forest. Samantha Herbert