Boost to recovery of rare bird 5/10/14
The corncrake has enjoyed its most successful season in at least 45 years, with the national population of corncrakes reaching its highest level since counts began.
Some 1,289 calling males were recorded in Scotland between May and July this year, as part of an annual RSPB Scotland survey.
The new figures are a welcome surprise to experts, who had previously predicted corncrake numbers would fall this year, after the species suffered an alarming decline of 23% in 2013.
Corncrakes are shy, pigeon-
They mainly stay hidden among tall vegetation where they can safely raise a family,
and are much more often found by hearing their distinctive rasping ‘crex-
Corncrakes were once common right across the farmed landscape in Scotland. However, they suffered huge declines throughout the 20th century and, by the early 1990s, the population had dwindled to a mere 400 singing males, highly concentrated in the Inner Hebrides, Western Isles and Orkney.
Intensifying agricultural production, especially a shift to earlier mowing of hay meadows and silage fields, is cited as the main cause of the drastic declines.