ORNITHOLOGISTS say a scheme in Scotland might have saved one of the
world's most endangered species from extinction.
The corncrake, once common in the countryside, has been unable to
adapt to modern farming practices and has been wiped out in many parts
of the country.
Its only remaining footholds in Britain are the Western Isles and the
northern Highlands.
Numbers in the UK have fallen from about 900 calling males --
recognisable by the rasping ''crek crek'' -- in 1978, to fewer than 479
last year. But the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has
revealed that this year the breeding season is likely to show an
increase in successful hatchings.
Corncrakes traditionally nest in hay meadows, but with changes in
agriculture, there are fewer safe areas available. The birds and their
eggs are destroyed because of the earlier cutting of grass and the
spread of sheep grazing.
The RSPB has now established corncrake corners, or corncrake
corridors, where grazing is halted, allowing grass to grow as cover for
the birds when they return from Africa in the spring. The society pays
crofters and farmers with corncrakes on their land to cut hay or silage
after July 31, so the young have time to fledge.
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