Drones have been deployed over Welsh wetlands this year in a concerted effort to locate curlew nests and prevent the extinction of this iconic upland wader.

The Eurasian curlew is at serious risk, with experts warning that it could disappear as a viable breeding species in Wales by 2033 if its current 6% annual population decline continues.

To aid in the curlew’s survival, researchers are using thermal imaging drones to detect the heat signatures of nests hidden in dense grass and bogs. Once nests are located, measures like electric fencing and targeted culling of foxes and crows are implemented to protect curlew chicks from predators.

“If we don’t start doing it now, it’s going to be too late,” said Tony Cross, an ornithology consultant working with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) on a curlew recovery plan, external.

The curlew’s decline is attributed to habitat loss, changes in farming practices, and predation. The breeding population, once robust, has plummeted by up to 90% over the past three decades, leaving an estimated 400 to 1,700 birds in Wales.

He said it would be “horrifying” to lose “that evocative, bubbling call up in the hills”, describing it as a “symbol of wilderness”.

Mr Cross added technology was helping, including a “massive advance” in GPS trackers, which are now small enough to “strap on the back of a curlew”.

In 2022, 15 curlews in Wales were fitted with GPS tags, providing valuable data on their migration patterns across Europe and highlighting important breeding and wintering areas in Wales.

Recent data reveals that seven of these tagged birds returned to Wales this year, with six breeding after wintering in Ireland and one, which bred in Sweden, wintering on the Dyfi Estuary near Aberystwyth in Ceredigion. One key location where Welsh curlews have returned is the Fenn’s, Whixall & Bettisfield Mosses nature reserve, which straddles the Wales-England border near Wrexham.

Conservationists like Bea Eade have been setting up electric fences in this reserve to protect the young curlews from predators.

Volunteers, such as 22-year-old Daniel Johnson from Wem in Shropshire, are also stepping up to support curlew conservation efforts.

“It’s important for people to know that this beautiful species that is quite iconic in Wales is under threat,” he said.

“I really hope my children and grandchildren will be able to see them.”

The curlew has been identified as the most pressing bird conservation priority in Wales, where one in six of nearly 4,000 animal, plant, and fungi species face extinction.

The loss of natural habitats has forced curlews to breed in farmers’ hayfields, where nests are often destroyed when the grass is mown in May or June, before the chicks have had a chance to fledge.

“The thing we have to get right in the next decade is integrating curlews with farming,” Mr Cross said, suggesting a new agricultural subsidy deal that rewards farmers for protecting curlew habitats.

Efforts to incorporate wildlife habitat measures into the Welsh government’s Sustainable Farming Scheme have faced criticism and delays until 2026, leaving farmers and researchers struggling to find and protect the elusive nests.

The curlew holds a special place in Welsh folklore, with tales like that of St. Beuno, a seventh-century abbot who is said to have blessed the bird after it rescued his prayer book from the sea, asking for all curlews to be protected.

“Now we have the benefit of modern technology to help us identify those nests a little more easily,” said Bethan Beech, from NRW, adding that their nests give off heat, which is visible to thermal imaging cameras.

Today, curlew recovery projects are underway at 12 locations across Wales, including near Whixall, where drones are part of a nest-finding trial.

Ms. Beech, who leads these projects and runs a farm herself, emphasises the importance of locating breeding sites to protect nests and curb predator populations.

She believes drones could eventually assist farmers in finding and safeguarding nests on their land.