Could curlews disappear from Morecambe Bay?

Due to a rapidly declining population, the Eurasian curlew faces the threat of extinction in the UK.

But experts believe that if breeding habitats can be restored then all hope is not lost.

The UK hosts almost 30 per cent of the world's Eurasian curlews, but numbers have halved since the mid-90s.

This is largely due to a lack of suitable breeding habitats and changes to agricultural practices.

David Harpley, conservation manger at the Cumbria Wildlife Trust said:"They do not cope well with the way improvements are managed.

"The bright green fields that you see around are not suitable for them." "There's not enough time between the rolling and the cutting for the curlew to raise its young."

Curlews are a coastal wetland bird and favour Morecambe Bay for its large exposed tidal range where they can find worms to eat.

However, in order to raise young they require open moorland or rough and damp pastures.

It is believed that curlews began to decline in number many years ago but this has largely gone unnoticed due to their long lifespan.

They can live for around 40 years and keep going back to their birthplace to raise new young even if it is an unsuitable location.

As Mr Harpley explains: "It goes back to where it was born and will keep going back to that place even when it fails all the time."

"The challenge is trying to manage grasslands in a way that is appropriate for breeding waders."

So what can be done to save our curlews?

Cumbria Wildlife Trust is working at restoring wetlands and uplands in order to provide suitable breeding habitats.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the government paid farmers to drain their fields, so the Wildlife Trust is tasked with blocking up these drains and ensuring that curlews have areas to nest.

They breed between April and July, so during these months they need access to unimproved pastures, hay meadows and boggy areas which are rich in invertebrates and ideal for feeding chicks.

In the UK, other species of curlew such as the black-tailed and bar-tailed godwits are migratory flocks, while the stone curlew only comes to breed in the spring.

The slender-billed curlew and the Eskimo curlew, from Canada and western Europe are now extinct.

Global warming is also thought to play a part in the curlew's decline as well as the threat they face from predators such as foxes.

But the key to the continuation of the species is ensuring that it can find appropriate habitats to raise young, year after year.

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