The map below shows the curlew sites that have been submitted to us so far:
Key & breakdown
- Green - curlew present (541)
- Red - used to have curlew but no longer (96)
Will you help us stop curlew retreating?
We don’t want the curlew to go the way of many of our much-loved birds, like the corncrake and the nightjar. They shouldn’t be consigned to a few remote places. That is why we are asking you to support our urgent appeal for funds.
It is estimated that there are just 300 pairs south of Birmingham, and these could disappear in just eight years. However, this isn’t just a problem facing the south. Breeding curlew have declined by 46% across the UK in just 25 years.
The map provided by the BTO below highlights the clear 'north south divide' in breeding curlew.
It shows that despite historically having bred throughout the UK, habitat loss in the lowlands and inbye land means that curlew are now more dependent on breeding on moorland, where some habitat remains more suitable and human disturbance is usually lower.
The map below, again kindly supplied by the BTO, shows specific gains and (mostly) losses in the curlew population across the UK since 1990:
