Initiative launched to save curlew in Ireland

A landmark conservation initiative aimed at saving the iconic curlew from extinction in Ireland has been launched on an island in Lough Corrib.

Twenty curlew chicks, artificially incubated at Dublin Zoo from eggs taken from the Yorkshire Dales in England, have been released into the wild.

It is hoped the so-called headstarting programme will help reverse the catastrophic decline in Ireland's breeding curlew population, which has fallen by 98% since the mid-1980s to just 100 breeding pairs nationwide.

The main advantage of headstarting is that it gives chicks a much greater chance of surviving to fledging than they would have in the wild.

Poor breeding success, with too few chicks surviving the first six or seven weeks until they fledge, is one of the main factors driving curlew population declines in Ireland and internationally.

In the mid-1980s, it was estimated there were between 3,300 and 5,500 breeding pairs of the ground-nesting birds. Today, that figure has fallen to just 100 breeding pairs, and there are fears the species could become extinct in Ireland by 2030 without radical intervention.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service established the Curlew Conservation Programme in 2017. It brings together a wide range of organisations and stakeholders to protect the species through nest protection, habitat restoration, predator control, surveys and community engagement.

Those efforts have helped stabilise small curlew populations in targeted areas. However, breeding success in the wild remains too low to secure the species' long-term survival in Ireland.

Headstarting is an emergency conservation measure designed to buy time while broader restoration measures are implemented at a scale capable of recovering the population.

The new programme required a landmark licensing agreement with UK authorities to allow 40 curlew eggs from the Yorkshire Dales to be imported into Ireland each year for five years.

The initiative is expected to introduce up to 200 young birds into the Irish population by 2030, strengthening existing conservation efforts.

Specially designed aviaries

The first batch of curlew eggs was collected from wild nests in Yorkshire in May this year. They were carefully transported to Dublin Zoo by the Breeding Waders European Innovation Partnership (EIP) team for early-stage rearing at the Centre for Species Survival.

Once the chicks reached 15 to 20 days old, they were transferred to specially designed release aviaries on islands in Lough Corrib and Lough Ree. There they became acclimatised to natural conditions before being released into the wild at about 40 days old.

The hope is that the programme will eventually increase breeding numbers, support the recovery of the species and strengthen the curlew's long-term future in Ireland.

Senior Project Manager with the Breeding Waders European Innovation Partnership (EIP), Owen Murphy, said Rabbit Island on Lough Corrib, where the first 20 curlew chicks were released, is relatively free of predators.

"We know there are no foxes or badgers on the island. That is important because these birds are still naïve. They are not very strong flyers yet. So, exactly like in the wild, they are very susceptible to predation," he said.

"There are also stunning landscapes and semi-natural grasslands. The water in the lake boosts insect populations, and that is exactly what these birds need to grow and survive into adulthood.

"There are also wild birds here. We are hoping our young curlews will fit in with them, learn the ways of the wild, learn how to evade predators, learn where to roost and feed, and ultimately learn where to return when they begin breeding themselves in three years' time."

The Director of Dublin Zoo, where the eggs were incubated, Christoph Schwitzer, said GPS transmitters had been fitted to 12 of the newly released chicks.

"They will send back a signal twice a day. We will be able to monitor where the birds are going. They have little solar panels on the trackers as well, so the batteries don't run flat quickly. Hopefully they will return to Ireland to breed. That's the main goal of the programme," he said.

The unique headstarting initiative is the result of a collaboration between the Breeding Waders European Innovation Partnership and the Yorkshire Dales Moorland Group. It is supported by the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Donal Beagan, Nest Protection and Headstarting Manager with the Breeding Waders EIP, said he felt privileged to have grown up hearing and seeing curlews in his local area.

"I think the onus is on us to preserve that for the next generation. The curlew is a bird that has been written about in Irish poetry, songs and folklore. It is steeped in our heritage, and I think it's important that we conserve that."

This latest initiative follows a breakthrough reported in April when curlew released in Co Leitrim two years previously established a breeding territory in Sliabh Beagh, Co Fermanagh. This marked the first recorded instance of a headstarted bird returning to establish a breeding territory in Ireland.