There are just 60 breeding pairs of curlews left on the Upper Thames, and two charities have launched a fundraising project to recover the population.
The Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment and Wild Oxfordshire have joined forces in the hopes of raising £25,000 to fund a recovery project for curlews in the county.
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Ben Heaven Taylor, CEO for the Trust, said: “It is our last chance to ensure that Curlews can continue to live and thrive in their traditional breeding grounds along the Upper Thames and its tributaries.
A young curlew, which is especially vulnerable to predators(Image: Mark Hunter)
“Thanks to the work of the Curlew Recovery Project, we know what the solutions are to increasing curlew numbers: we now need to scale this up urgently.”
The Eurasian curlew is Europe’s largest wading bird, which has a distinctive call made from its long down-curved bill.
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Curlews live on the coast in autumn and winter but head to moorlands and farmland to breed in the spring and summer.
The population of the ground-nesting birds, whose chicks are particularly vulnerable when newly hatched, has halved in the past 25 years.
The curlew was added to the UK’s Red List for birds of the highest conservation concern in 2015, meaning they are at urgent risk of extinction.
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Declining numbers has been driven by loss of the birds’ wetland and meadow habitats, intensive agriculture practices and predation from animals like foxes and crows.
Oxfordshire is home to 10 per cent of the UK’s lowland breeding curlews.
The Curlew Partnership was formed five years ago, led by Wild Oxfordshire, formed of charity volunteers and farmers who protect nests using temporary electric fencing.
These efforts have resulted in a 74 per cent hatching success rate, compared to the national average of 25 per cent, across 110 nests, enabling 61 young curlews to successfully fledge.
The group has now launched a crowdfunder to scale up its work and identify and protect more nests, employ a coordinator and save the curlews.
Camilla Burrow, chief executive for Wild Oxfordshire, said: “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to keep this iconic species in our country, and to do our bit to ensure its survival across the UK.
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“We want generations to come to hear the amazing sound of the curlew across the meadowlands and wetlands of Oxfordshire, and we’re grateful to everyone who is able to contribute to our crowdfunder.”
Every pound donated to the campaign will be match-funded by the Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment and the Aviva community fund.
For more information about the crowdfunder and to donate, visit: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-us-save-the-last-curlews-of-the-upper-thames
