Conservation Science in the RSPB 2006

42
Managing the risk of disturbance
to breeding stone-curlews
Stone-curlew
Chris Knights (rspb-images.com)
The open downland on Salisbury
Plain and the heaths of Breckland
in East Anglia are the preferred
habitats of the stone-curlew, one
of the UK’s rarest birds.
Breeding pairs of this elusive bird
experience disturbance because of
recreational use of these areas by
walkers. There is a risk that such
disturbance will increase because
much of their habitat is designated
as open access land under the
Countryside and Rights of Way Act.
Many pairs also breed on military
training areas where, because of
reduced access to overseas
training facilities, they too may be
increasingly disturbed by the
activities of soldiers and
their vehicles.
We investigated these potential
problems and how to manage them.
One of the outcomes is a
computerised tool known as the
Stone Curlew Access Response
Evaluator (SCARE), which allows
managers of heathland and
downland sites to assess the
effects on stone-curlews of different
human activities.
Many hours of observation of
behavioural responses of breeding
birds showed that different sources
of potential disturbance had markedly
different effects. For example,
walkers with dogs were more likely
to cause the birds to run away or fly
than walkers without. Sites with
frequent disturbance were much
less likely to be occupied by a
breeding pair.
SCARE takes a mathematical model
based on these results and applies it
to a map of the stone-curlew site
where management options are