Corncrake

Hard times and hard to spot

Once a familiar nighttime sound across the British countryside, the piercing ‘crex crex’ call of the male corncrake has all but vanished. Today, this elusive migratory bird is one of Britain’s most threatened species.

How we’ve helped

For over 19 years, the Pensthorpe Conservation Trust led one of the UK’s most ambitious corncrake recovery efforts, a ground-breaking captive breeding and release programme based at Pensthorpe.

Working closely with partners including Natural England, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the RSPB, the project aimed to re-establish a sustainable population of this iconic but elusive farmland bird in the East of England.

The results have been extraordinary. Thanks to years of careful breeding, husbandry, and habitat support, wild-bred corncrakes returned to East Anglia and began breeding in the wild for the first time in over 50 years – a milestone achievement in British conservation that we are extremely proud of.

In 2025, this pioneering project was transitioned to a newly created conservation trust in Norfolk, designed specifically to carry the work forward. We are proud to have handed over our experience, data, and expertise to help secure the species’ future and continue to support our partners in this collective effort.

Four steps to freedom – how the breeding programme worked

1. Careful Beginnings
   When corncrake chicks hatched at Pensthorpe, our team closely monitored them to ensure the female was feeding them and they were developing well
2. First Health Checks and Ringing
   At 14–15 days old, each chick was gently caught, weighed, checked by a veterinarian, and fitted with a temporary identification ring. They were then transported to the release site.
3. Imprinting and Growth
   On arrival, the chicks were kept in pre-release pens for around three weeks. During this time, they continued to grow, imprint on the night sky and their surroundings, and built strength in a safe environment
4. Final Checks and Release
   At 35–40 days old, the birds received a second health check. Their plastic ring was replaced with a BTO metal ring (under licence), and they were released into the wild — most often at the WWT Welney reserve.

Released into carefully prepared habitat rich in food, the birds stayed through the summer before beginning their natural, nocturnal migration to Central Africa, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo. If successful, they returned the following spring to the area they were released — a vital step in rebuilding a wild population.

Corncrakes in danger

Despite past recovery efforts, the UK population of corncrakes remains in serious decline. On the islands of north-west Scotland, numbers rose to 1,289 calling males by 2014 — but have since fallen by over 30%, with just 850 recorded in 2021.

Now classed as a Red-listed species, corncrakes are among those most urgently in need of conservation action. The Pensthorpe Conservation Trust’s breeding programme provided a vital lifeline for the species in England, contributing to a broader, long-term effort to restore these iconic birds to our landscapes.

We are proud of the role we’ve played, and we look forward to seeing continued success for the project at its new location in Norfolk.

Have you heard a corncrake?

Corncrakes are hard to spot and like to hide in tall vegetation. The males have a distinctive rasping call or ‘crex’. If you think you’ve heard one, email crex@pensthorpe.com to let us know where and when the sighting took place – and send an audio clip or video if possible.

Meet some of our retirees..

From late April through to October we house some of our elderly retired Corncrakes from the project in our wader aviary. These birds are enjoying a happy retirement after helping the project over the last few years.

Find out more about our wader aviary here