The Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata is in trouble. The number of breeding Curlew in the UK is declining rapidly. WSBRC is working with landowners in the Braydon Forest to protect and monitor Curlew in one of their last strongholds in the county.
Curlew in Crisis
To many, the cry of the Curlew is the sound of the wild. Sadly it is now increasingly rare with the UK having lost almost half its breeding Curlew in just a few decades.
Within Wiltshire breeding Curlew numbers have crashed by up to 80% in 50 years. Across the county, areas that once rang with the Curlew’s call are now silent. The remaining handful of pairs are restricted to Salisbury Plain and the Braydon Forest. The situation is dire, but all hope is not lost.
Our Work
The Curlew Call project was established in 2019 with the aim of protect Curlew in the Braydon Forest and north Wiltshire.
Curlew Call works closely with landowners to locate, monitor and protect the remaining Curlew as well as ensuring a long-term future for the species by addressing the causes of the decline.
A detailed overview of the project can be found in our StoryMap.
The Braydon Forest
Lying between Swindon and Malmesbury; the Braydon Forest is an area characterised by a mosaic of woodlands and dairy farming. Historically the open fields were a stronghold for Curlew in the county.
A full survey in 1994 located 23 breeding pairs across the area, we repeated this work in 2019 and located just 5 pairs; a catastrophic 78% decline. Nest monitoring revealed that there was no successful breeding. Work was halted during the Covid-19 pandemic but was restarted in 2021 and a number of breeding pairs have been sighted and monitored which is encouraging.
Curlew Call is also working with local landowners to monitor and protect Curlew nests and influence agricultural practices such as cutting regimes to be more Curlew friendly. This has been a success and was the impetus to establish the new Braydon Forest Future Association
We are also undertaking surveying and monitoring work to understand how Curlew use the wider Braydon Forest and which areas are most important for them.
In 2021, the Project expanded into areas outside of the Braydon Forest after reports of a few pairs of Curlew clinging on. Casual observations suggest a small number of locations may hold previously overlooked breeding Curlew, but this needs more determined work to confirm. It is critical that we monitor all nesting attempts. When the population is a small as it is in Wiltshire, locating every pair is vital.
Building upon the success of Curlew Call, in 2024 the Waderscapes Project was established to look further afield and to support associated species such as Lapwing.
Photo credits: © Darin Smith