Norfolk reintroduction raises hope for endangered corncrake
Since 2021, 100 corncrakes have been bred in captivity and released each year in a bid to re-establish them in the wild on the flood plains of the River Ouse – home to thousands of wild birds.
The call of the corncrake is a “lovely noise to hear out in the washes,” says Emilie Fox-Teece of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve at Welney, Norfolk.
“The fact that we’re able to help boost and support the population in this way to try and establish a sustainable population is very important,” she says.
The birds that are released each year have big challenges ahead. They spend the summer feeding then migrate to Africa in the autumn, with only a small number making it back home the following spring to breed.
Returning males are located by their calls and counted, with numbers slowly growing from three males in 2021 to at least nine in 2024, suggesting a population of at least double that, once the quieter females are factored in.
