Curlew (Numenius arquata)

	Curlews arrive in the New Forest from early March

The Curlew’s familiar, plaintiff, bubbling cries – coorlee–coorlee-coorlee – brighten many of the larger New Forest heaths and valley mires as these attractive birds establish and defend their breeding territories. In fact, this hauntingly beautiful, wilderness sound is as much a sign of spring as the arrival of the first swallows or the earliest cuckoo’s calls.  

Bulky, long-legged, white-rumped creatures, Curlews are Europe’s largest wader with a wing span of up to 106 centimeters (42 inches).  Their lengthy, down-curved bill is distinctive, an adaption that allows mud and soft ground to be probed for invertebrates, prey to be taken off the surface, and tussocks and other vegetation explored in the search for tasty morsels. 

In the New Forest, Curlews can hardly be confused with any other bird as they patrol their domains in spectacular, undulating display flight, calling as they go, in regularly repeated early morning rituals.

Indeed, the New Forest heaths and bogs would be all the duller without the Curlews’ wailing, mournful sounds and accompanying antics. Yet it once was so, for Curlews are relatively recent arrivals, a welcome wildlife success story that has unfolded since the second half of the 19th century.

Prior to that, as breeding birds, Curlews were restricted to Britain’s uplands: to the wilder parts of Dartmoor, Exmoor, Wales, and Shropshire, and from the lower Pennines northwards into Scotland. But by 1890, small numbers were breeding in the New Forest, and by 1960, around 60 pairs bred. Elsewhere, breeding was first recorded in Wiltshire, Dorset and Lancashire in the 1870s and in Cheshire in the 1890s.  

Range expansion continued, and by the mid-20th century, Curlews were breeding in many of Britain’s river valleys and on agricultural land.

	A Curlew, perhaps puzzled, watches the cars go by at Shatterford

Curlews arrive in the New Forest from early-March, but initially some are thought to be regular commuters, spending parts of the day on the breeding grounds but returning to feed on the coast.

As the breeding cycle progresses, particularly after the eggs have hatched, calling and display gradually ceases as adult Curlews quietly go about the business of raising their brood. Then, cryptically patterned, brown-streaked plumage makes them surprisingly inconspicuous. Indeed, had the earlier activity not been witnessed, presence would largely go unnoticed.

Most Curlews leave the New Forest by late-July, although on the Hampshire coast, returning adults - failed breeders or females whose mates have been left to tend the chicks - are first noticed in late-June.

Breeding Curlew numbers in the wider countryside have shown a substantial decline in recent years, whilst in the New Forest, the results of a 2004 RSPB survey suggested that since 1994 numbers fell here by 25%, from 132 pairs to 99 pairs.

It remains to be seen whether this is a long-term trend, possibly associated with increasing recreational disturbance and/or habitat deterioration, or whether the downward cycle will be reversed by recent wetland restoration initiatives and attempts, through selective car park closures, to limit disturbance in priority wetland areas.

References:
The Birds of the Western Palearctic: Stanley Cramp, et al.
The Historical Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland, 1875-1900: Simon Holloway
Birds of Hampshire: Hampshire Ornithological Society
Hampshire Bird Report 2004: Hampshire Ornithological Society
The New Forest – A Natural History: Colin R. Tubbs
New Forest Breeding Waders Survey 2004: A Survey of the Breeding Waders in the New Forest Valley Mires: R.D. Goater, C. Temple and A. Thomas