Choughs take off again in Cornwall

One of Britain’s most celebrated birds, the chough – pronounced “chuff ” – has enjoyed a bumper breeding season in Cornwall.

One theory is that because of coronavirus there have been fewer tourists to frighten it away from its favourite breeding areas near beaches and cliffs, where it feasts on grubs, worms and beetles that it finds by turning over cow pats.

Claire Mucklow, of the Cornwall Chough Project, said 14 pairs were confirmed to be breeding and 43 babies have so far fledged in 2020.

It’s an amazing turn-around for the bird – the emblem of Cornwall. It became extinct in the county in 1973 after a long decline, but small numbers returned to Cornwall in 2001 – DNA suggests the new birds came from Ireland – and this year’s breeding figures are among the best on record.

Since its reappearance, the species has spread to Devon and Wales.