New structure being unveiled in Mayo to celebrate the curlew

THE National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is unveiling new curlew structures in three Irish villages and towns today to celebrate the iconic Irish bird which remains under threat.

Two structures will be unveiled in Roscommon and Mayo – Roscommon town and Tooreen – while a third, in Drumshambo, Co. Leitrim, will be unveiled tomorrow (Friday).

The structures are aimed at raising awareness for the curlew.

The Curlew Conservation Programme, directed by the NPWS, commissioned Donegal artist Brendan Farren, to create the structures from willow to celebrate the importance of the locality for curlew and to bring the species to mind for visitors and local people alike.

The Curlew Conservation Programme engages with local communities, clubs, farmers and landowners.

Over the past four breeding seasons, direct assistance and support from the community has allowed the programme to progress in these local areas allowing the curlew action team and relevant parties to work as a collective with one common goal.

The Curlew (An Crotach) is one of the most iconic birds of the rural Irish landscape. It is recognisable by its long, down curved bill, large greyish brown body and long legs. It has a haunting and evocative call that carries a memory of a communal time.

There has been a staggering 97% decline since the 1980s. A national survey carried out in 2015-17 found that there are fewer than 150 known breeding pairs remaining.

Small pockets in Mayo, Roscommon and Leitrim remain among the few places in Ireland where people can still enjoy the sights and sounds of breeding curlew.

Ireland is host to thousands of visiting curlew in winter, however these birds return to their own breeding grounds in Britain, Scandinavia and Russia in the spring. The presence of these migrant birds may have masked the decline of the native breeding population.

The curlew is Ireland’s only breeding species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list of endangered species.

Curlews depend on open habitats, such as bogs and grasslands. Lost, mismanaged and fragmented habitat is part of the reason for their decline, along with high predator populations. As a result, the birds are finding it almost impossible to rear chicks from their nest on the ground.

Records of Curlew throughout the breeding season (March – July) can be submitted to agri.ecology@chg.gov.ie.