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A possible
slender-billed curlew has taken up residence, along with several
more familiar curlews, at the RSPB's Minsmere Reserve.
DNA analysis
BirdLife
International estimates the total world population of this crow-sized
wading bird is less than 50 individuals. However, so little is known
about this critically endangered species that the bird's identification
is dividing the ornithological world. One way of solving the mystery
will be to analyse the bird's DNA.
A massive effort is required to find and protect key sites along
the species' flyway to prevent the slender-billed curlew from
becoming the first bird extinction in Europe since the great
auk. |
| Dr
Mike Rands, BirdLife International |
Birdwatchers
are now training their telescopes on the bird to see whether it
sheds any feathers or leaves any droppings enabling a sample to
be gathered and sent away for analysis.
As well as being Europe's rarest bird, the slender-billed curlew
is also its most enigmatic.
Wintering ground
The last nest was found in Siberia exactly 80 years ago. The species
is believed to migrate across central and eastern Europe to spend
the winter in north Africa. However, no birds have been seen at
the last-known regular wintering ground, in Morocco, since 1995.
The last confirmed sighting anywhere in the world was in 1999, in
Greece.
Breeding sites
RSPB scientists are investigating new techniques for pinpointing
the bird's breeding grounds. Researchers will analyse the atomic
make-up of feathers gathered from museum specimens, collected in
the 19th century when the slender-billed curlew was more common,
in the hope of locating its nesting site.
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Possible
slender billed curlew. Photo copyright:
Jeff B Higgott |
Dr
Debbie Pain, in charge of the RSPB's international research, said:
"Any feathers grown on the breeding grounds will lock away
the area's unique 'signature' of elemental isotope ratios."
Dr Pain added: "This technique should allow us to narrow the
potential search from an area several times larger than the UK to
a size that researchers can more easily cover on foot."
Dramatic decline
Although the species' likely breeding range is remote, it is wrong
to assume it is safe for the birds. Regarded as very common in the
19th century, the slender-billed curlew declined dramatically during
the 20th Century, with hunting and loss of wetland habitat thought
to be major factors.
Urgent conservation effort
Dr Mike Rands, Director and Chief Executive of BirdLife International,
said: "If the Minsmere bird is a slender-billed curlew it will
be fantastic news. The fact it is a young bird proves the species
bred somewhere this year.
"However,
we know so little about the species that it is hard to know which
of the possible conservation actions are most urgently needed to
save it. The only certainty is that a massive effort is required
to find and protect key sites along the species' flyway to prevent
the slender-billed curlew from becoming the first bird extinction
in Europe since the great auk."
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