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Rare birds to make a Washes comeback |
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Sunday, 30 July 2006 14:38 |
Rare birds to make a Washes comeback
A GROUND-BREAKING project
to make dozens of endangered birds at home near Peterborough is to get
a helping hand from a neighbouring conservation reserve.
A
scheme to reintroduce the corncrake to the east of England was started
at the Nene Washes reserve, at Whittlesey, four years ago.
Since
then, RSPB staff, working with Peterborough-based English Nature and
the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have nurtured dozens of the rare
birds in special aviaries at the Nene Washes.
The birds are bred
at Whipsnade Wild Animal Park before being transferred to the Nene
Washes and eventually released into the wild. Almost 100 birds are now
being released at Nene Washes every year.
Corncrakes are
migratory birds which flock from the Nene Washes to Africa each winter.
However, many of them do not survive the journey, which has led to a
decrease in numbers.
Since it started, the scheme has helped
dozens of the rare birds to flourish, and now even more corncrakes are
expected to make Nene Washes their home, with the help of the
Pensthorpe conservation centre, in Fakenham, Norfolk.
Pensthorpe has successfully bred some corncrakes, and is now hoping to help the birds to relocate to the Nene.
RSPB
spokesman for Eastern England Chris Durdin said: "So far, this has been
a really innovative project to reintroduce corncrakes to England.
"The Nene Washes was chosen because it's a very large area of wet meadows, which is their preferred habitat.
"It's great to have Pensthorpe on board because they have had some great successes with breeding birds in captivity.
"We're
hoping it will mean that more birds can be released at the Nene Washes.
We do lose a lot as they migrate to Africa and back, which is a long
journey for them to survive.
"We hope that we'll have a better genetic mix and a greater chance of more birds surviving.
"For
birdwatchers, the corncrake is an iconic species. Because they are so
scarce and specialised and have such an extraordinary call, they are
very significant to the conservation and birdwatching community.
"They're not what you would call pretty, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and they are extraordinary birds."
A closer look at a secretive, iconic bird
Corncrakes
were widespread in England in the 19th century but started to die out
as the over-cultivation of land damaged their wetland and meadow
habitats.
Corncrakes are related to moorhens, coots and rails, but unlike most members of the family they live on dry land.
They are very secretive birds, spending most of their time hidden in tall vegetation.
In flight, their bright chestnut wings and trailing legs are unmistakable.
They nest and rear their young in tall grass or herbaceous vegetation, such as nettles, cow parsley or yellow flag.
Corncrakes feed on insects and seeds. They make a rasping, monotonous "crek-crek" cry.
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