11 December 2006

News release issued by the RSPB, reporting on joint work by
Natural England and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
STONE-CURLEW NUMBERS UP AGAIN
This year saw the third successive increase in the number of breeding stone-curlews in the Breckland area of Norfolk and Suffolk – and numbers have topped 200 pairs for the first time in recent years.

The RSPB/Natural England stone-curlew project recorded an increase of 13 pairs, from 141 pairs in 2005 to 154 pairs in 2006. Productivity – the number of chicks fledged per pair – was a little disappointing, with 83 fledged young in total, or 0.54 fledged per pair.

The total number of breeding pairs in the Brecks, including those outside the RSPB survey area, is now at least 205 pairs.

In north Norfolk, 10 pairs fledged two young and on the Suffolk coast seven pairs fledged six young, four of which were from one pair at RSPB Minsmere! There has been no confirmed breeding in south Cambridgeshire since 1999.

The RSPB says that the work of farmers and landowners in Breckland is vital for stone-curlews. The key factor in the recovery of the stone-curlew is nest protection, especially for those nesting in crops such as sugar beet and spring barley. Working closely with farmers, nests are found and safeguarded from damage by tractor hoeing and other agricultural operations.

Tim Cowan, RSPB stone-curlew project officer, commenting on this year’s season said: “Although stone-curlew numbers in the region are slowly increasing, the number nesting on natural habitats like grass heathland is static and there has been very little expansion of the breeding range.”

“With the help of farmers, stone-curlews are increasing as the majority nest on arable land. However for a more sustainable stone-curlew population in Eastern England, with less time-consuming protection work, we’d like to see both a big increase in grass heaths and more safe nesting areas created within arable farmland.”

Specially prepared nest plots in arable fields, where they require less intensive intervention, can be funded under Environmental Stewardship.

Sarah Anthony, Natural England Ornithologist, said: "The stone-curlew recovery project in the Brecks is an excellent example of how much can be achieved by working in partnership. Our next challenge is to encourage positive management, both to improve existing habitats and to enable expansion of birds to areas which were historically part of their range."

There was a small flock of six stone-curlews seen in the Suffolk Brecks on 1 December. These may be birds that in a mild autumn are simply late to leave for their normal wintering grounds in Spain and north Africa, but as one over-wintered in the Brecks in 2004-5 and maybe this will happen again.

The stone-curlew project in Eastern England has been running since 1985 and, together with a similar project in Wessex, is part of Action for Birds in England, a conservation programme involving the RSPB and Natural England. Funding enables fieldworkers to work with farmers to safeguard eggs and chicks during routine farming work.

ends
Contacts:
Tim Cowan, RSPB stone-curlew project officer (Eastern England) 01842 821787
Chris Durdin RSPB Eastern England office 01603 660066
Nick Sibbett, Natural England, Bury St Edmunds 01284 762218
Images:
A digital image of a stone-curlew is available by contacting either Pat Knibb or Chris Durdin on 01603 660066, email: pat.knibb@rspb.org.uk or chris.durdin@rspb.org.uk Broadcast quality video material is available from the RSPB Eastern England office (Tel 01603 660066).

Notes:
Stone-curlews used to number more than 1,000 breeding pairs in England before habitats were lost to arable farming and forestry after the second world war. The bird was found in 23 English counties in the nineteenth century, stretching from the Yorkshire Wolds to Essex to Dorset.

It is one of the species most vulnerable to disturbance and its eggs and chicks are so well camouflaged that they are almost impossible to spot.

There are two main populations of the bird – in the Brecklands, which straddle the Norfolk-Suffolk border (205 pairs in 2006) and on and around Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire (116 pairs in 2006). Adding in the smaller populations in north Norfolk and east Suffolk takes the total of pairs in 2006 to more than 338. Now the challenge is to return the stone-curlew to areas not used for more than 30 years.

The stone-curlew is about the length of a crow but slimmer, more elegant and with much longer wings. Its most striking characteristics are its long yellow legs and large yellow eyes, the power of which enables it to feed on insects at night.

The stone-curlew is not related to the Eurasian curlew – a familiar bird of the moors and hills of northern Britain – but is so named because it has a similar, wailing call. It is particularly vocal at dusk. It is a migratory bird spending winters in southern Spain, south-west France, Algeria, Morocco and west Africa, though very occasionally over-wintering in Breckland.
Stone-curlews arrive at English breeding grounds in late March or April and stay until October. They lay two eggs in a shallow scrape or hollow on the ground and can have one or two broods. Young do not fly until they are between 36 and 42 days old.

In England, it inhabits dry, sparsely vegetated, open ground including farmland but on the continent the bird also nests on safe, sandy islands where rivers have divided. Spain is the bird’s European stronghold.

Most European populations of stone-curlew are falling because more farmland is becoming intensively managed. In England, the stone-curlew projects have bucked the trend.
The stone-curlew is now one of 26 birds subject to government-backed Biodiversity Action Plans aimed at safeguarding their future and/or reversing declining numbers by or before 2010.

English Nature is now part of Natural England. Natural England has been formed by bringing together English Nature, the landscape, access and recreation elements of the Countryside Agency, and the environmental land management functions of the Rural Development Service. Natural England will work for people, places and nature, to enhance biodiversity, landscapes and wildlife in rural, urban, coastal and marine areas; promoting access, recreation and public well-being, and contributing to the way natural resources are managed so that they can be enjoyed now and by future generations