Singer David Gray pledges help for threatened curlew

MUSICIAN David Gray is on a mission to save one of the most elusive and endangered birds in Ireland, the curlew.

The curlew is the only species of bird in Ireland on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. There is a serious risk that their haunting cry may vanish from Ireland’s bogs and mountains forever.

Curlew numbers have plummeted due to loss of habitat, changes in farming and a fall in the bird’s birth rate.

There are only nine small areas in Ireland where curlews can be found, and five of those areas have reported that no chicks fledged in 2021.

Speaking on Newstalk, Mr Gray said: ‘They’re quite an easy bird to get in the memory bank because they’re large, they’ve got this huge curved bill but then you hear them sing and that’s another thing that marks them out.’

He added: ‘It’s more than birdsong. We’re talking about something that seems like the essence of the wild itself. When a curlew sings, to me it’s a transcendent yearning that you kind of experience when you hear this kind of keening sound.’

The British singer-songwriter, 53, has selected Curlew Action as his chosen charity for his tour in Ireland this week and said he hopes people will ‘give generously’.