More info: This hidden webcam at a curlew nest has been installed by RSPB Northern Ireland and it is the second year that the project has been running.
The curlew was once common in Northern Ireland with up to 5,000 breeding pairs in the 1980s. Now however, the curlew is one of Northern Ireland's most endangered birds and there are thought to be as few as 250 pairs left.
RSPB NI is working with land-owners, farmers and local communities, to help the birds and secure the future of breeding curlews in the Antrim Hills and Lough Erne as part of the Curlews in Crisis project
In winter, curlews can be seen feeding in groups on tidal mudflats, saltmarshes and nearby farmland. Whilst some of the birds spend the winter in Ireland and France, there is an influx of Scandinavian-breeding curlews who take advantage of the relatively mild winters. In the spring and summer, curlews migrate to their breeding grounds in upland areas of rough pasture, heather moorland and wetlands.
Like many wading birds, curlews lay their eggs in a nest on the ground which is known as a ‘scrape’. The parents incubate the eggs for about four weeks, before the young leave the nest and roam around with their parents for a further four weeks, until fledging.