Could artificial rearing save Ireland's curlew?

Breeding curlew numbers declined by 97% in the Republic and by 82% in Northern Ireland over the last 30 years.

The adult Curlew. Pic. Courtesy Joe Shannon

One hundred years ago, the corn bunting’s “jangling of a bunch of keys” could be heard in every Irish county.

Alas, the dumpy little songbird is no longer with us. Up to the 1950s, the corncrake’s rasping was ubiquitous and the cuckoo could be heard almost everywhere.