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The evocative call of the curlew heralds the arrival of spring in the Peak District, and the ’cur-lee’ sound is where the bird gets its name from. Looking at the photograph of the curlew it is possible to work out how and where this bird might live. The long beak is useful for digging up worms and shells from mudflats. The long legs and webbed feet are useful for paddling in shallow water. The curlew is a wading bird that overwinters on mudflats and estuaries around coastal Britain, and returns to the Peak District to breed. In the Peak District, the curlew can be found on upland pasture, heather moorlands, acid grass moorland, and to a lesser degree on blanket bog feeding on a range of invertebrates in both tall and short vegetation. In the Dark Peak population densities of 53 pairs on 59 sq. km. of moorland are typical. However, in the South-West Peak numbers on farmland have declined by over 50%! Over the Peak District as a whole breeding densities on pastures are significantly lower than in the past, due to agricultural intensification, silage production and high stocking levels leading to nest trampling. We now have around 1000 pairs, which is about 2-3% of the British breeding population.
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