It’s World Migratory Bird Day today! World Migratory Bird Day is celebrated each year on the second Saturday of May (or October, depending on where you are), and is part of a campaign to raise awareness of migratory birds and the issues that they face. Migrating birds pose unique challenges in conservation, not least because […]
Over two days in early February, Curlew Action brought together projects from across England and Europe to discuss the increasingly hot topic of headstarting European Curlews. 100 people attended, which is a testament to how important people see this technique as essential to Curlew survival. Day 1 was dedicated to explaining the role of headstarting
Curlew Action is five years old on December 31st. Our founding mantra was expressed by the Senegalese environmentalist Baba Dioum in 1968: “We will conserve what we love; we will only love what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught.” Figure 1 Mary giving a talk for the conclusion of the
The Curlew Forum is a collection of Eurasian Curlew conservation bodies based in lowland (as opposed to the uplands) and Southern Britain. These are the targeted areas most at risk from further decline, principally because not enough Curlews are successfully fledging chicks and the populations are in constant decline. The meeting was chaired by Curlew
A paper published today, Monday 18th November, confirms the global extinction of the Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris). A close relation of the Eurasian Curlew (N. arquata), the last reliable sighting of the Slender-billed Curlew was in Morocco in February 1995, despite dedicated searches by ornithologists. The new paper is a collaboration between scientists from the
The Curlew conservation project in Poland was launched in 2013 and continues to this day. The reason for its initiation was the dramatic decline in the population. Over the course of two to three decades, the number of Curlews declined by more than half, from around 650-700 breeding pairs (before 2000) to approximately 250-300 (2008-2012).
We are looking for Curlew Action’s official sign to encourage people not to disturb wintering waders. The UK’s coastline plays host to 150,000 Curlew from across Europe during the winter months. Protecting them from disturbance is vital to allow them to survive the harsh winter months. Read more in our recent blog post. How to
On the 9th October I attended a day of talks and discussions in the Manor House Country Hotel near Enniskillen in Northern Ireland, organised by the EU-funded RSPB Curlew LIFE project. This was an ambitious undertaking over 4 years which focused on turning things around for Curlews in five important areas: Hadrian’s Wall and RSPB
RSPB Curlew LIFE project and the North West Birdwatching Festival Read More »
Every year, millions of wading birds around the world migrate away from their breeding grounds to warmer, food-rich areas such as coastlines and estuaries. This poses a challenge. For these birds to thrive throughout their lives we must protect them in both their breeding and wintering areas. There is no point protecting eggs and chicks if
As the results of the 2024 Eurasian Curlew breeding season come in, it looks like another mixed year. The poor weather in May and June seems to have had a serious effect in some places but helped in others. Generally, though, the trend is still downwards. But we mustn’t be too disheartened. Curlews are long-lived
This is the first of two blog posts about the IWSG conference, read the second post by Mary Colwell about her talk. The International Wader Study Group (IWSG) is the principal European organisation dedicated to waders; the American counterpart is the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN). IWSG was established some 50 years ago, mainly
Founder and Director of Curlew Action Mary Colwell has been awarded the ZSL Silver Medal, for outstanding contributions to the understanding and appreciation of zoology. Professor Jim Smith FRS, President of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), says: Members of the Committee were unanimous in their decision that you are a richly deserving winner for
Curlew expert and Curlew Action trustee Mike Smart shares an update on colour-ringed Curlew sightings from his local patch on the Usk, how colour-ringing is helping ornithologists to understand Curlew movements, and requests sightings and photographs of colour-ringed Curlews on the Usk. Current status of Eurasian Curlew A British Birds article in 2015 [PDF available via
Upton-on-Severn is a small town on the west bank of the River Severn (as its name suggests!), south of Worcester. The town itself is on slightly higher ground, alongside “Upton Ham”. Upton: Ham in the foreground, the town, Malvern Hills in the background. (Photo by John Dickinson) The Ham is a meadow which regularly floods
In the midst of our daily routines, it’s easy to get consumed with administrative work, science, emails, and even the politics of conservation. However, we should never forget why we genuinely care about Curlews and other birds, the simple pleasure we get from seeing this wild bird living in their natural habitat. When you are
This is the second of two blog posts from Curlew Action’s visit to Belgium. Read the first one – a diary detailing the different locations visited. Headstarting Belgium’s Eurasian Curlew population is supported by the small but effective headstarting project based at the wildlife rescue centre. It is a service offered for free to Natuurpunt,
This is the first of two blog posts from Curlew Action’s visit to Belgium. Read the second one – with further thoughts from Mary on Belgian and European Curlews. Meet Griet Nijs, a Curlew hero. She works for the conservation organisation Natuurpunt, the largest environmental charity in Belgium. Curlews are Griet’s passion, and she works
This is the second of two blog posts on Curlew Action’s visit to Poland, read Mary’s reflections in this blog post. The first link with Polish Curlew workers was established when a Curlew colour-ringed on the Usk estuary in Wales in January 2016 was resighted in Poland from 19 to 26 April 2018 in one
This is the first of two blog posts on Curlew Action’s visit to Poland. Read Mike Smart’s blog post. A warm wind blew across a very large field in Eastern Poland, it was mid-April and uncharacteristically mild. In the distance a farmer ploughed one small area, his engine a grating background to the music of
Did you know that 21 April is World Curlew Day! Isn’t there a day for everything? Why then does y gylfinir deserve a special day’? As is frequently the case the standard Welsh term for the Curlew – y gylfinir – describes Britain’s largest wading bird perfectly: gylfin = bill, hir = long! It’s difficult