About Curlews

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This page contains information about Curlews, including links to useful videos on our YouTube channel. Check out our Resources page for additional information about survey and monitoring of breeding Curlews.

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At 58,500 breeding pairs, the UK currently holds approximately a quarter of the global Eurasian Curlew population, with estimates for England of about 30,000 pairs. However, national monitoring data, coordinated by BTO, show that this population has been in long-term decline since the 1970s and has almost halved in the UK over the last 20 years. In lowland southern England the population has declined to about 500 pairs, with many colonies on the verge of local extinction.

 

Britain also supports some 125,000 wintering Curlew, numbers of which have declined by more than 25% in 25 years. Many of these birds breed in continental Europe. As a result of Europe-wide population declines, Curlew is listed as vulnerable to extinction in Europe, and globally, is considered near threatened.

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Below you can download the CRP 'Introduction to Curlews' slide pack, which provides an overview of Curlew ecology, distribution, status, threats, and conservation action, as well as an overview of the CRP and our current and future activities. The slide pack is available with and without accompanying text in PPT and PDF format: the version with text is ideal for presenters who are less familiar with the content (and for general background info), while the version without text is suitable for more experienced presenters speaking to an audience. All slides are freely available for Curlew enthusiasts to use in their own talks to friends, family, local and specialist groups etc, but please acknowledge the CRP as the source.

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Introduction to Curlews (with text) - download PPT version here (24Mb)

Introduction to Curlews (with text) - download PDF version here (15 Mb)

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Introduction to Curlews (without text) - download PPT version here (30Mb)

Introduction to Curlews (without text) - download PDF version here (21Mb)

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As part of World Curlew Day 2021, the Curlew Recovery Partnership hosted an online seminar featuring four expert guest speakers talking about Curlews and their conservation. These can be viewed on our YouTube channel by clicking on the titles below:

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Dr Samantha Franks (BTO): Curlews at a crossroads: reasons for their decline and hope for their conservation

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Dr Geoff Hilton (WWT): Lowland Curlews: what we know, what we don't know, what we're doing

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Amanda Perkins (Curlew Country): An overview of the work of Curlew Country

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Chloe Palmer (Peak District Farmer Clusters): Farmer Clusters and the Curlew: a mechanism for species recovery?

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Several of our Steering Group organisations and partners already provide excellent online resources about Curlews and their conservation, including information about their ecology and field identification. A selection are provided below:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/curlew/

https://www.wwt.org.uk/discover-wetlands/wetland-wildlife/curlews/

https://www.gwct.org.uk/action-for-curlew/about-curlew/

https://app.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob5410.htm

http://www.curlewmedia.com/what-is-a-curlew

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A research paper by Dan Brown and co-authors in British Birds in Nov 2015 is widely regarded as one of the primary triggers for the rapid upsurge in conservation interest in Curlews; the abstract is copied here: "Based on its adverse global conservation status, and the global importance but rapid decline of the UK’s breeding population, the Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata should now be considered the UK’s highest conservation priority bird species. A co-ordinated UK recovery programme is urgently required to help ensure that this species does not suffer the same fate as that of some other Numenius species". To read the full paper click the link below:

https://britishbirds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Brit.-Birds-108-660–668.pdf

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The excellent WaderTales website includes many features on Curlews, click the link below for a review of 2020 blogs:

https://wadertales.wordpress.com/2020/12/27/wadertales-blogs-in-2020/

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An excellent resource for the wide repertoire of Curlew calls and songs can be found here:

https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Numenius-arquata

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Finally, for a global perspective, see the BirdLife International factsheet for Eurasian Curlew here:

http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/eurasian-curlew-numenius-arquata

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