By: Ray Zhao
It may be harsh and monotonous, but the corncrake call has long been beloved by the inhabitants of Ireland. The “kek kek” sound that the small, shy birds make used to live throughout the island county. It is often associated with the summer, signaling warm weather and haymaking.
Nowadays, however, corncrakes can only be heard only in select areas along the western coast. People often make long trips there to listen to the calls. The assistant head of conservation at Birdwatch Ireland says it is “sad” that many people in Ireland have never heard the call.
The significant decrease in their population was due to advanced farming techniques, which decreased grass-growing time. The earlier mowing destroyed corncrake habitats. The birds became extinct in many places, but in some remote coastal areas, the corncrake still lives. Their numbers have dropped an astonishing 96 percent since the 1970s, and lucky survivors are vulnerable.
Despite all this, there is hope for the return of the corncrake. Recently, people like conservationists, government agencies, and farmers began working together in a 5.9-million-euro effort to save the corncrakes.
Rescue efforts began in the 1990s, but farmers resented the rules, which included prohibiting early mowing of areas where corncrakes might breed. But the new state-led program, called Corncrake Life, takes a different approach: the program tries to preserve and recreate the rough meadows beside the Ocean that corncrakes call home.
The program pays almost 350 USD per acre to farmers who create corncrake-friendly habitats. To be considered prime corncrake habitat, grassland must be turned into traditional meadows, where grasses, wildflowers, and weeds mix in abundance. John Carey, director of Corncrake Life, said the program “[didn’t] reward farmers for having a corncrake on their land, [but] reward[ed] them for having the habitat.”
There is some criticism to the expensive plan. Cormac MacConnell, a writer for Irish Central, believes the money could have been spent on a national cull of the exploding magpie population. He also said that the 500 million spent near his home increased the population by one in a few years.
Patrick Mangan is 57 and a proud farmer and corncrake enthusiast. Recently, he converted grassland to a meadow on his little farm on the Belmullet Peninsula. On the peninsula, an abundance of plants, such as cow parsley, nettles, long grasses, and wildflowers. The mix of plants provides an ideal habitat for corncrakes. The program has already increased the number of corncrakes by more than 900%.
He says, “I remember in the 1970s, this area was full of corncrakes … Then farmers started mowing grass earlier [in the summer due to improved farming techniques], and that ruined it … the corncrake was nearly wiped out here. And if it is, we’ll never get it back again.”