Page 42 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #05

CURLEWS

CONCERN FOR CURLEWS:
A THREATENED FAMILY

Out of the eight species between Siberia and the
of curlew worldwide, two Mediterranean and was
may already be extinct. also heavily hunted. It has
ew Year’s Eve 2017. Waves of wind One of the last There have been no verified not been seen since 2006.
known photos of
and rain batter our campervan. We’re sightings of the Eskimo Meanwhile, the Far Eastern
the slender-billed
parked on the North Somerset coast, curlew, from 1995. curlew, once the most curlew is considered
surrounded by level, sodden farmland common migratory wader Endangered and the
and mudflats. Somewhere in the in North America, since bristle-thighed curlew as
distance a curlew calls, but its cry is 1982. It was known as Vulnerable.The Eurasian
Nwhipped away by the wind. “The the‘dough bird’for curlew is classified as Near
curlew cannot sleep at all/His voice is shrill its fine flesh; many Threatened due to its rapid
Clockwise from top left: Abi Warner/Getty; Terry Whittaker/NPL; Andy Sands/NPL; Steve Knell/NPL; Chris Gomersall/rspb-images.com
above the deep/Reverberations of the storm/ millions were decline, which has been
Between the streams he will not sleep,” wrote shot each year. caused by loss of habitat
one medieval monk in Ireland. Known The Critically and predation. Only the
as the storm birds, curlews are even now Endangered three remaining species –
associated with driving rain off the Atlantic slender- the whimbrel and little and
in the minds of many Irish people. billed curlew long-billed curlews – are
Dawn breaks into quietness. The first rays migrated not in immediate danger.
of light of 2018 are welcomed by a flypast of
curlews, calling ‘curlee’ as they head for the
fields. A group lands just across the road and remain mysterious, like most of the curlews
begins feeding in the muddy grass. The birds’ in the UK and Ireland.
long, curved bills probe the substrate, the sensitive Curlews were once numerous breeding birds
tips feeling for earthworms and grubs. They add almost everywhere, yet we still know little about their
elegance to a vista of grey and drab green. lives. Perhaps these are locals, spending the winter months
It’s best to approach curlews with caution, as they’re close to their breeding grounds on the Somerset Levels, or
flighty and nervous, perhaps the most edgy of all British maybe they’re from further afield, from curlew hotspots in
waders. Stay back about 400m, and move slowly; better Oxfordshire, the New Forest or the Severn and Avon Vales.
still, watch from a parked car. My binoculars can’t pick But there aren’t many breeding curlews left in southern
out any leg rings, so none of this group has been caught England – fewer than 300 pairs hang on in small pockets
and given a unique set of numbers or colours. The birds south of a line from Shrewsbury to The Wash.
Almost two years ago to the day, I stood on a shingle
bank overlooking The Wash, marvelling at the surround-
THEIR MAGNIFICENT BUBBLING CALL sound of calling waders, ducks and geese. Curlews were
among them, adding their half-mournful, half-yearning
SPIRALS AND FLUTES ACROSS HILLS AND cry to the mix. Around 9,000 curlews winter on that
FARMLAND, HERALDING WARMER DAYS. vast mudflat, but the majority aren’t native birds: they’re
migrants from continental Europe, seeking winter warmth
42 BBC Wildlife Spring 2018