Cornish choughs spread towards Devon border

The Cornish chough has expanded its range into mid Cornwall and in the next decade the species could be breeding in Devon, the RSPB has said.

Choughs that were born in west Cornwall are now living on cliffs between Perranporth and Padstow, it said.

The species returned to Cornwall in 2001. About 21 choughs currently live in the county.

The RSPB said it expected birds from populations in Cornwall and Wales to re-establish the species in Devon.

Claire Mucklow, from the RSPB's Cornwall Chough Project, said it was difficult to predict when the population would cross the Cornwall-Devon border.

She said it depended on how well the population in south Wales was doing and when the birds would start to search for nest sites further afield.

The species was historically found at a number of locations in Devon, including Morte Point, Ms Mucklow added.

The chough, a rare member of the crow family, has distinctive red legs and a long red bill.

There were more than 100 pairs in Cornwall but the bird vanished after its food source dried up because of a decline in cliff-top grazing and the use of pesticides.

It eventually disappeared from the county in 1973.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-15357028

Conservationists are 'choughed' as Cornish birds raise eight youngsters

CONSERVATIONISTS in Cornwall are delighted that two pairs of choughs have successfully raised eight youngsters this year.
The chough, a Cornish emblem, returned to the county in 2001 after a long absence and there are now over 30 here.

The birds, part of a natural re-colonisation, first nested at Southerly Point, on the Lizard Peninsula in 2002, where the first chough chicks in more than 50 years made Cornish history.

Successful
A second pair raised young in 2006 and 2007, then last year another pair were successful on the West Penwith coast, testament to the pioneering pair and their healthy offspring going on to repopulate some of the choughs' former range that would have been all along the coast in the 1800s.

Two pairs this year raised five male and three female young between them, further adding to the local population and giving conservationists confidence as further pairs are already colonising other stretches of Cornwall's coast. Indeed, a third pair tried this year but failed, possibly as a natural consequence of an immature female.

The RSPB's Claire Mucklow said: "Having eight youngsters fledge from the two nest sites is excellent news and hopefully we'll see even more next year."

The success of choughs following re-colonisation is based on good habitat management around the Cornish coast where the reintroduction of grazing to the cliffs and slopes keeps the areas in tip-top condition for choughs foraging for food.

This has been achieved by conservation organisations including RSPB, Natural England and the National Trust working closely with farmers.

Rachel Holder, from the National Trust on the Lizard, said: "It's been great to see the number of choughs building year on year, so that they are now a common sight, not just around Lizard Point itself, but along both the East and West coasts of the Lizard and in Penwith.

She said there was plenty of good habitat to support this expanding population. "Choughs are very dependent on animals grazing the coastal cliffs and slopes, as this helps to create the open and short grassland in which the birds forage for insects."

Territory
Peter Bowden, from Natural England, said they are now looking to extend the chough's territory range further along the North Cornwall coast to the former cliff-top strongholds they flew over so majestically more than 100 years ago.

The RSPB would be interested in hearing from people who spot the choughs on cornishchoughs@rspb.org.uk.

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/news/Conservationists-choughed-Cornish-birds-raise-youngsters/article-1103749-detail/article.html