Have you heard the curlew’s call in Kildare? David O’Brien, curlew advisory officer, on efforts to preserve this distinctive native Irish bird Reporter: '); The absence of the distinctive call of the curlew in our rural landscape is concerning. Ireland’s native breeding curlew has declined by 96% in the past 30 years, one of the most drastic declines of any bird species across the entire European Union. The biggest threats to curlew at a local level are changes in land use (eg, afforestation and intensification of agriculture), extreme pressure from predators of curlew eggs and chicks (mostly foxes, grey crows and mink) and failed environmental policy.