€250k to be spent on saving the corncrake

A MAJOR effort to save the rare corncrake bird has begun with Birdwatch Ireland carrying out a €250,000 project to save the threatened species in four areas of the country.

The corncrake’s distinctive call was familiar in rural Ireland but its numbers have dwindled in recent decades due to more farm machinery disturbing its meadowland habitat.

The Corncrake Conservation Programme will be carried out in Co Donegal, West Connacht, the River Shannon’s flood plains and West Kerry.