European Curlew Headstarting Online Workshop

A two-day, online event to discuss the role of headstarting across Europe. Curlew Action’s visits to European Curlew projects highlighted the importance of headstarting in supporting dwindling populations, and they also discovered the varied approaches to headstarting. This event will bring together European headstarting project leads and experts to share knowledge, experience and best practice.

The event will consist of a series of talks, workshops and panel discussions. Topics include: licensing, sourcing eggs, incubation and hatching, rearing chicks, veterinary work, release, post-release monitoring, as well as individual case studies from organisations across Europe. Full timetable coming soon.

Tickets at £100 for the two day event. Curlew Action is a small charity and this event will incur significant expense in staff time and platform fees. Please buy a ticket if you can, but please don't let money stop you joining us. If you are unable to buy a ticket at full price, please use the donate option. If you have any questions, please email flo@curlewaction.org.

Summary Agenda

2-day Online European Curlew Headstarting Workshop

February 6th- 7th, 2025

Day 1 – Thursday 6th February 10:00 – 16:15

Session 1: 10.00 - 11.45

10:00 – 10.15: Welcome and Opening Remarks

Mary Colwell - Director of Curlew Action

10.15 – 11:30: Overview of headstarting

Geoff Hilton - The big picture. Does it work? Is it working for Curlew?

Flash talks & panel discussion

Heike Weber What to consider before headstarting

Richard Saunders – UK licensing and restrictions

Nigel Jarrett – WWT perspective, feasibility and justification

Q&A chaired by Geoff Hilton

11:30 – 12:00 – coffee break

Session 2: 12:00 - 13.30

12:00 – 12:15 UK European review

Sam Franks – BTO European headstarting paper (15 mins)

12:15 – 13:30 – Country project Talks Part 1

1. Ireland – Donal Beagan

2. England

a. Geoff Hilton - Dartmoor, SAV

b. Norfolk - Katharine Bowgen & Chrissie Kelley

c. Charlie Mellor - Peppering, Elmley, Cranbourne

13:30-14:15 lunch

Session 3: 14.15 - 16.30

14.15 – 15:15 Country project Talks Part 2

3. Amanda Perkins - Shropshire

4. Griet Nijs – Belgium

5. Heike Weber and Robert Tülinghoff - German

6. Przemek Obłoza – Poland

15:15 – 15:30: Coffee Break

15:30-16:30

Q and A and round up chaired by Sam Franks

Day 2 – Friday February 7th 09.30 – 16.30

Session 1: 09.30 - 11.45

09.30-09.45 - opening remarks by Chair for the day – Andrew Hoodless

Ian Newton - Headstarting and the big issues faced by Curlew

Discussion Sessions

09.45 - 10.30 Eggs, incubation and hatching (Tanya Grigg)

· Is it difficult to get permissions for egg collection and from landowners?

· How many eggs are collected, do you take a full or partial clutch? All the nests or just a few? What is the limiting factor - number of nests, people to find and collect or permissions?

· How do you decide which nests to take eggs from?

· Do they have to travel far to the facility?

· Different technologies

· Are there different incubation techniques?

· What is the hatching success? Do some eggs fail to develop? Do some chicks fail to get out of the eggs? Is this the same proportion of eggs each year?

· Solutions for hatching problems.

10.30 - 11.15 Rearing chicks (Chrissie Kelley)

· Are there different designs of pens?

· What is the make-up of the food?

· Monitoring for choking on wrong food?

· Length of time chicks kept in the pens at each stage of development.

· At what stage, if any, do you ring/tag chicks?

· Weighing and sexing chicks

11:15 – 11:45: coffee break

Session 2: 11.45 – 13.15

11:45 – 12:30 Veterinary work (Sophie Common)

· Have you encountered and disease or health issues? (blistering, angel wings, bent necks, failing to thrive, cracked/bent toes)

· Do you involve vets?

· Have you completed a disease risk analysis and / or disease risk management protocol?

· What biosecurity measures do you employ?

· Are there any other bird species kept on site?

· Are birds given a health check prior to release?

12.30 - 13.15

Releasing birds (Kane Brides)

· Hard or soft release?

· In an established area for breeding or on wintering grounds or into an entirely new area?

· Do the birds stay in release area for a while?

· Are there wild birds in the area?

· What is survival post release?

· Is the release site managed for habitat and predators?

· Do the birds return to this area to breed or do they disperse?

13:15 – 14.00 lunch

Session 2: 14.00 - 1600

14.00 – 14.45

1. Post-release monitoring (Katharine Bowgen)

· Are birds colour-ringed or tracked?

· What is the survival post-release?

· What is over-winter survival?

· What is adult survival?

· Where do birds winter?

· What is natal dispersal / where do birds breed?

· Do headstarted birds breed as successfully as wild counterparts?

14.45 - 16.00

Q&A on topics – Andrew Hoodless

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