In October 2022 we held a webinar on Curlews and Predators. Predation of Curlew eggs and chicks is one of the leading causes of their decline. It is an emotive and complicated topic to discuss, but it is important these discussions are held so that we can get closer to the solution of such a …
Written by Mary Colwell. I’d like to think there is one thing we can all agree on – at a time of mounting ecological stress where species are thinning out or disappearing at an unprecedented rate, everyone should be much kinder to the natural world. And I use that word ‘kinder’ with care. Kind has …
Mary Colwell is the Founder and Director of Curlew Action. She has worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the plight of the Curlew. For eleven years, she spearheaded the campaign for a GCSE in Natural History, which was confirmed earlier this year and will be in schools from September 2025. The team at Curlew Action …
Anyone who has heard the call of the Curlew knows they are worth protecting in their own right, their evocative, eerie cry across a moor or a mudflat belongs to the soul of our wild places. To add to their significance as an iconic and much loved British bird, they are what is known as …
Umbrella species: why saving curlew helps more than curlew Read More »
“A GCSE in Natural History is a unique opportunity for young people to engage with wildlife in a structured, guided way, to learn the skills of a naturalist at a time when we need them more than ever. I am so delighted it is, at last, a reality.” – Mary Colwell At a meeting of …
Blog post by Ellen Bradley & Phillip Edwards The impact that the natural world has on our air quality, our soil fertility and our water purity is, by now, well understood. But what about our culture? For millennia, the wildlife around us has been inspiring poets, artists and writers. Without the astonishing array of plants, …
Following their hugely successful 2021 campaign, Natural Kingdom: Wild Walls, UK Youth for Nature, the UK’s leading youth group calling on governments and politicians to tackle the loss of nature, is once again sending a clear message to our government that nature cannot wait. Last year, Curlew Action supported the youth group with their campaign …
Young people draw lines in the sand over nature loss Read More »
A small charity’s mission to save Britain’s most precious bird. Globally, we’ve lost 50% of our wildlife, and Britain is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. Our intensively managed islands are forcing nature to survive at the fringes of human development, and wildlife must adapt rapidly to changing landscapes. Over the …
Written by Charlotte Varela. Illustration by Jessica Holm. From lapwings in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights to the titular raven in Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven, birds have long acted as inspiration for literature. Some are used to evoke a sense of freedom and wildness while others are an ill-omen, foreshadowing tragedy. The curlew, however, has long evoked a …
Written by Ellen Bradley. Engaging people with the nature around them is a cornerstone of conservation. Britain has a long history of studying our nature and is the home of many world-class naturalists including Charles Darwin, Jane Goodall and David Attenborough. Yet many of our young people seem totally removed from the wildlife in our …
The Junior Curlew Network – engaging young people with curlew conservation Read More »
Written by Alba Villarroya. Due to its geographical position and variety of ecosystems, the Iberian Peninsula is a place of interest for the birds. In the wintering season, Spain and Portugal receive a large number of Curlew that rest and feed mainly in the humid areas of the north and west coasts. However, the situation …
The critical situation of Curlews in the Iberian Peninsula Read More »
Written by Steph Smith. Please be gentle, this is my first “Blog” and I am completely out of my comfort zone!!!! My relationship with Curlews began early, through my dad. My dad, by his own admission was not the most academic of men, but he had taught me to skin a rabbit, catch and clean a …
Guest blog post: UK Youth For Nature. UK Youth for Nature is the UK’s leading youth-led network calling on the politicians & governments of the UK to take urgent action and tackle the loss of nature. We are commissioning a series of murals in cities and towns throughout the UK that speak to individuals throughout …
Written by Charlotte Varela. As spring blooms in a riot of bluebells, bright green buds and even brighter skies, it’s hard to miss the accompanying upswell of birdsong. But where the thrushes, chiffchaffs and robins get most of the attention, there is one very special bird that heralds the new season with a tune like …
Written by Alice Weaver. Let me start off by saying that this last two years have been great for connecting people with nature; although the pandemic has been terrible it has been a very steep learning curve to why we truly value the world around us. This valuation of nature should have been something instilled …
Embedding natural history into our own, and our children’s, education Read More »
Written by Dakota Reid, Curlew Action ambassador and Irish environmentalist. Healthy peatlands are few and far between in Northern Ireland. But despite restoration offering a huge range of carbon, biodiversity, flood prevention and water quality benefits, restoration rates have been painfully slow without proper government funding being allocated [author’s image]. As anyone who cares about …
On the edge: curlews suffering from conifer plantations in Northern Ireland and beyond Read More »
Written by Ellie Martin, 2nd year BSc (Hons) Zoology student at Hartpury University Four years ago, the Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata) was deemed near threatened on the IUCN Red List (2017), and even then, populations were seen to be decreasing. It is hard to know the current status of Curlews due to a lack of recent …
Written by Charlotte Varela. Photo credit: Tim Melling It’s hard to believe that, until relatively recently, I had never even heard of curlews. My love affair began with another love affair, 12 years ago, when I met my partner Matthew. He lived in the countryside and would take us on long nature walks across the …
Written by Katy Ellis. Photo credit: Dan Cox As an Ecology student, I am interested in how the planet’s organisms interact with one another and their environment. Understanding the ecology of something, be it bird, bush or beetle, is vital if we are to inspire people in the importance of protecting it. Though marine and …
Written by Russell Wynn, manager of the CRP. Introduction The Curlew Recovery Partnership (CRP) was officially launched on 01 Mar 2021, and following a joint press release it was encouraging to see widespread publicity in national, regional and specialist media. The first emails started arriving in our CRP email account from mid-morning onwards on launch …