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BTO Blueline
CURLEW
Numenius arquata
 Curlew © Derek Belsey
 

• Population
  changes

• Productivity
  trends

• Additional
  information
Conservation listings
Europe: SPEC category 2 (declining)
UK: amber (>20% of European breeding and winter populations)
UK Biodiversity Action Plan: priority species
Long-term trend
England: probable decline
UK population size
107,000 (99,500–125,000) pairs in 1985–99 (O'Brien 2005: BiE04, APEP06)
Status summary
Curlews monitored by CBC were mostly in lowland habitats and may have been affected primarily by drainage of farmland (Gibbons et al. 1993). Surveys of breeding birds in wet meadows in England and Wales revealed a decrease of 39% between 1982 and 2002 (Wilson et al. 2005). A 2006 survey highlighted the rapid decline of the species across all habitats in Wales, with low breeding success as a plausible mechanism (Johnstone et al. 2007). In Northern Ireland, a breeding decline of around 60% occurred between the mid 1980s and 1999 (Henderson et al. 2002). BBS data also show that decline has been widespread. WBS data, in contrast, indicate a moderate increase during the 1980s in Curlews nesting alongside waterways. Wintering Curlew abundance showed a shallow long-term increase to around 2000, but has since declined (Austin et al. 2008).
 

Population changes
CBC/BBS UK graph
 
Table of population changes for Curlew

Source Period
(yrs)		 Years Plots
(n)		 Change
(%)		 Lower
limit		 Upper
limit		 Alert Comment
CBC/BBS England 39 1967-2006 95 -29 -68 25   Small CBC sample
  25 1981-2006 139 -31 -66 10   Small CBC sample
  10 1996-2006 284 -19 -26 -12    
  5 2001-2006 285 -10 -16 -3    
WBS waterways 26 1980-2006 22 22 -23 85    
  25 1981-2006 22 19 -22 75    
  10 1996-2006 20 6 -14 29    
  5 2001-2006 15 3 -14 14   Small sample
BBS UK 11 1995-2006 453 -38 -43 -33 >25  
  10 1996-2006 460 -36 -40 -31 >25  
  5 2001-2006 455 -23 -28 -18    
BBS England 11 1995-2006 270 -21 -27 -12    
  10 1996-2006 275 -18 -25 -10    
  5 2001-2006 285 -9 -15 -3    
BBS Scotland 11 1995-2006 120 -50 -55 -44 >25  
  10 1996-2006 120 -47 -53 -41 >25  
  5 2001-2006 110 -31 -40 -24 >25  
BBS Wales 11 1995-2006 38 -45 -58 -30 >25  
  10 1996-2006 39 -43 -55 -29 >25  
  5 2001-2006 37 -26 -40 -10 >25  

BBS acknowledgement
 
WBS UK graph
BBS UK graph
BBS England graph
BBS Scotland graph
BBS Wales graph
 

Productivity trends
Table of productivity changes for Curlew

Variable Period
(yrs)		 Years Mean
annual
sample		 Trend Modelled
in first year		 Modelled
in 2006		 Change Comment
Clutch size 38 1968-2006 21 None       Small sample
Daily failure rate (eggs) 38 1968-2006 24 None       Small sample

 

 

 

Insufficient data on brood size
available for this species

 

 

 

Insufficient data on nestling failure
available for this species

 

 

Insufficient data on laying date
available for this species

 

 

Insufficient data on CES
available for this species

 

 
 

Additional information
BTO blue divider
 

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This report should be cited as:
Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Leech, D.I., Joys, A.C., Noble, D.G.,
Barimore, C., Grantham, M.J., Risely, K. & Robinson, R.A. (2009).
Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2008.
BTO Research Report No. 516. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends)

Pages maintained by Iain Downie, Mandy T Andrews and Laura Smith: Last updated 18.02.2009