Curlew Recovery Project

Recovering Curlew through the collection of eggs from airfields, captive-rearing, and release into the wild.

The UK’s Curlew population has declined by around 65% in the last three decades, largely driven by poor nest and chick survival.
Eastern England is home to one of the largest remaining populations in lowland England where Curlew often favour the extensive expanses of semi-natural grassland habitat present on airfields.
However, due to air strike risk, eggs from nesting Curlew have historically been destroyed under licence on many airfields.
We are using a new conservation tool – ‘Headstarting’, whereby eggs are collected soon after laying, the chicks reared in captivity and then released back into the wild.