Curlew chicks

Driving on Westray I see bird running in the tiny road ahead of me. It’s a Curlew chick. There’s another in the field to my right. Then I spot another to my left. It’s doing what many birds do, carrying on running or flying along the road, without deviating. It needs to head off to the side and the sanctuary of the drainage ditch and the field, but it keeps on running. I stop the car in the middle of the road and wait. An adult wheels overhead, calling, and the chick heads into the field through the ditch.

What a lovely chick. It’s still got some downy feathers, it’s not yet full size, and it’s not developed the long beak the adults use to feed with so successfully.

The hyper-aware adult is loitering in an adjoining field.

I’m delighted they are doing so well.

The Curlew is currently listed as “Red” on the UK’s Birds of Conservation Concern list. This means it is a species of high conservation concern and requires urgent action. The curlew is also listed as Near Threatened on the global IUCN Red List.