By: Tristan Sun

The harsh, monotonous cry of the corncrake, once omnipresent during the summer months, is now seldom heard outside of a few scattered enclaves along the western coast.

The corncrake’s call, despite its grating nature, is a beloved sound of summer in Ireland; among older generations, it evokes nostalgic memories of warm weather and romantic nights. But because new agricultural practices have deprived the birds of places to breed, they have become endangered in most of Western Europe.

In recent years, many conservationists have been working with farmers and government agencies to preserve the call for future generations. “You hear about them making special trips to places in the west where they are going to hear the corncrake again. It’s sad that many young people have never heard it,” said Anita Donaghy, assistant head of conservation at Birdwatch Ireland.

Despite a successful rescue effort that let to an increase in its numbers in northwest Scotland, rising to 1289 males in 2014, the corncrake’s population has since fallen by more than 30% to 850 calling males in Scotland in 2021.

Nettles — weedy perennial plants, often with stinging defensive hairs on the leaves and stem — provide crucial cover to corncrakes, who have evolved to run and seek shelter when threatened. However, according to John Carey, director of the government-led program Corncrake Life, farmers have been told that nettles are weeds for generations.

Another reason for the corncrake’s decline is artificial fertilizers. These products allow farmers to mow their fields prematurely, interfering with the corncrake’s breeding season. However, in remote coastal enclaves where poor land delayed the onset of industrial agriculture, corncrakes remain.

Currently, farmers can expect annual payments of up to €304 euros for each acre of land dedicated to providing cover for corncrakes. A portion of the plant life must not be food, but instead tall vegetation like stinging nettles. Artificial fertilizers and weed killers are not allowed.

“We don’t reward farmers for having a corncrake on their land, we reward them for having the habitat,” Mr. Carey added. “Even if a corncrake never showed up, you’d get skylarks, meadow pipits, all kinds of flowers, invertebrates, and butterflies. The greatest value of this land isn’t in food production, it’s in public goods and services — clean water, wildlife diversity, carbon sequestration. It’s time we started paying for that.”

In corncrake territory, farmers are encouraged to start mowing from the center, working their way out to the border. This gives corncrakes mating in the grass a chance to fly away.

Similarly, Shane McIntyre who volunteers with Corncrake Life invented a new bar with jangling chains to be fitted on the front of tractors; the bar scares corncrakes and other wildlife before the mower kills them.