International search effort underway to find the Slender-billed Curlew

Slender-billed Curlew (© Richard Porter)17
December 2009
- The largest ever attempt to rediscover
a possibly extinct species will be mounted this winter with
teams of skilled volunteer observers scouring more than
35 countries around the Mediterranean, Middle East and the
Indian subcontinent in the hope of confirming the continued
existence of the Slender-billed Curlew.

The Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris)
is one of the four most threatened (Critically Endangered)
species listed under AEWA and has the smallest population
estimate amongst them with no confirmed records since 2001.

Commenting on the quest, Nicola Crockford
from the RSPB and the chair of the international Slender-billed
Curlew Working Group said: “The allure of this bird
is such that, thanks to the goodwill and voluntary assistance
of many people on a shoestring budget we have managed to
achieve the seemingly impossible: coverage in virtually
every country of the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
The race is well and truly on to prove the continued existence
of this mystical species. Whoever finds the bird will have
earned their place in ornithological history.”

The search for the presence of the Slender-billed
Curlew will be taking place this winter in the following
countries:

  • all Mediterranean countries especially Morocco, Algeria,
    Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Italy, Greece and Turkey;
  • additional African countries of the Red Sea: Sudan,
    Djibouti, Somalia;
  • all Middle Eastern countries: including Iran, Iraq,
    Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria;
  • countries of the subcontinent: India, Sri Lanka and
    Bangladesh.

In the event of a Slender-billed Curlew being located,
a rapid-reaction team will be deployed to catch the bird
and fit it with a satellite tag in the hope that it can
be tracked back to its breeding grounds next spring.

The framework of the search is provided by the International
Waterbird Census of Wetlands International. Where possible,
international searchers are joining regular midwinter waterbird
counting teams. Furthermore, in spring there will be a coordinated
spring survey of the Adriatic, and beyond. Then, in autumn,
if funds can be raised, there will be search expeditions
to potential moult sites around the Aral, Caspian and Black
Seas. Additionally, there will be search coverage of Hungary’s
Pannonian plain and Serbia.

Any potential record of Slender-billed Curlew has to be
approved by an international verification panel set up by
the Slender-billed Curlew working group and co-ordinated
by the newly appointed Ken Shaw, formerly of the RSPB. Birdwatchers
are urged to keep an eye out for the bird in suitable habitats
within the potential range and to report any possible sightings,
including historical ones. To assist the search, an identification
leaflet has been produced in twelve languages.

In the AEWA Strategic Plan 2009-2017, the Parties to AEWA
have set a number of indicators for the successful implementation
of the Agreement and one of them is “zero extinction”
, i.e. that no AEWA waterbird population will become extinct.
In order to meet this target, it is necessary to make every
effort to find and protect the last Slender-billed Curlews
and their critical sites along the flyway. The AEWA Secretariat
is an active member of the working group and the core steering
group for the Slender-billed Curlew and is providing both
logistical and institutional support to the international
search campaign. In addition, AEWA has provided funding
for the Slender-billed Curlew Identification Kit as well
as for four satellite tags.

Further Information:

Read the full press release issued by
the RSPB today, on behalf of a partnership, involving: The
African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA); BirdLife
International; Convention on Migratory Species; and the
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds:

The Slender-billed Curlew Working Group:

Slender-billed Curlew and Curlew (© Richard Porter)

 

Last updated on 16 June 2014