New figures show Cranes continue to recover after going extinct in the UK 400 years ago. In today’s blog Andrew Stanbury, RSPB Conservation Scientist, takes us through their comeback and how conservation action has played a vital role.
Credit: Nick Upton (rspb-images.com)
All too often in nature conservation, stories are full of doom and gloom; highlighting species in steep decline. However, today is World Wetland Day and this is a great opportunity to celebrate a real conservation success story; the return of Common Cranes to the UK.
A bird assigned to the history books?
Cranes became extinct as a breeding species in the UK during the 16th century. Prior to this, they were formerly quite common in certain areas; often featuring on the menus of medieval feasts or as quarry species. For example, a banquet to celebrate George Neville’s enthronement as Archbishop of York in September 1465 supposedly included 204 Cranes.
The Cranes’ low reproductive rate made them susceptible to overexploitation, particularly through the taking of eggs and flightless young. This, plus developments in firearms, probably led rapidly to their extinction. The last evidence of breeding in the UK was in June 1542, when the accounts of Chamberlains of Norwich refer to a payment of five shillings for a ‘young pyper Crane’ taken from Hickling in Norfolk.
The Crane’s return
After over 400 years Cranes began to return to the UK. In 1979 a small number colonised an area of the Norfolk Broads. This was followed by the first breeding attempt in 1981, only a few miles from the last historic breeding record. This gave hope that they might be able to re-establish a viable breeding population.
During the first two decades, the recolonisation proceeded very slowly. The population stood at just five pairs nationally in 2000 and, therefore, there was need to boost their numbers. So, in 2010 the Great Crane Project was formed – a partnership between the RSPB, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, and the Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, funded by Viridor Credits Environmental Company, to hand-rear and release Crane chicks on the Somerset Levels and Moors, creating another Crane stronghold.
The Crane population in 2023
Since then, the population has expanded rapidly, breaking the 30 pair threshold in 2014, 50 pairs in 2028 and 70 pairs in 2021. 2023 was another good year, with at least 80 pairs present. Of these, up to 69 attempted to breed and fledged 36 young. This is the highest breeding number recorded since recolonisation, and the population is believed to be in excess of 250 individuals. The UK population is now considered self-sustaining with high survival rates.
Credit must go to many dedicated people and organisations which have championed Crane conservation for over 40 years, many of which are members of the UK Crane Working Group, an umbrella organisation established to promote Crane conservation in the UK.
UK Crane population increase and productivity between 1980 and 2023. Data from the UK Crane Working Group.
The UK population is now roughly a 60:40 split between those of wild origin mainly in the east of the country and those from the Great Crane Project in the Somerset Levels and the Severn Valley.
The importance of nature reserves and other protected sites
Since the start, conservation effort on wetland protection, restoration and creation has played an vital role in their recovery. Over 80% of the breeding population are found on protected sites, with over a third on RSPB reserves alone. These protected sites offer the solitude, habitats and the sympathetic management required, as Cranes can be very sensitive to human disturbance, particularly while setting up territory and during the breeding season.
Recent announcements from the UK government to spend £16m rewetting and restoring peatlands across England, along with a second round of the Landscape Recovery project to support net zero goals, protected sites and wildlife-rich habitats are good news for our Cranes and countless other species. Investing in nature’s recovery benefits everyone. We must now go further and move faster, scaling up efforts to restore protected sites and landscapes by 2030 if wildlife and people are to thrive.
Where can I see them?
Cranes have now spread away from the Norfolk Broads to occupy other areas. Breeding Cranes recolonised Yorkshire in 2001, the East Anglian Fens at our Lakenheath reserve in 2007, Scotland in 2012 and Wales in 2016.
Cranes are naturally secretive during the breeding period, but your best chance of seeing them on RSPB reserves is at West Sedgemoor, Lakenheath and the Nene Washes.
What next for the Cranes?
The future for Cranes in the UK currently looks positive and their population is predicted to continue to expand. Hopefully, more people will get the opportunity to watch and listen to the amazing birds distinctive dancing and echoing bugling courtship.
Today, February 2nd, marks World Wetlands Day, a day to celebrate this vital and increasingly vulnerable habitat. The Cranes show that active conservation of wetlands can reverse species decline and pave the way for returns of species not seen in centuries. For this rise to continue, however, we need to better protect existing sites and help create and maintain others.