May 2025

We are pleased to announce that this year’s Corncrake season is getting into full swing with the distinctive Crex Crex call of the male being heard in many of the usual spots across the island.

The Corncrake is one of our rarest summer visitors but as they prefer to stay hidden in tall vegetation you may hear him rather than see him. In April and May you’ll hear them calling from nettle patches, amongst meadowsweet and cow parsley, rough brambles, rushy areas and reed beds – these plants will be tall enough for Corncrakes to hide. By late May, June, July and August they’ll be nesting in the hay and silage fields.

Over recent years, we have been tracking individual Corncrakes using their calls. From a recording of a calling male we identify different call patterns and monitor where an individual male is through the season. This can show where he is likely to have found a mate and bred, which in turn highlights key fields that can be protected during silage mowing.

Recordings on a mobile phone as a video or a voice memo (noise cancellation turned off!) work well and are really helpful. If you would like more information on this project or how best to make a recording please get in touch.

If you hear or see a Corncrake we would love to hear from you! Please get in touch and let us know when and where you heard it - if you manage to get a recording on your phone, all the better!

Corncrakes are extremely rare and they, their nests and eggs are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) so it is important that we don’t disturb or approach them. Best way is to keep out of the meadows and stay on the roads.

Surveys take place at night so you may see our white van (with the RSPB badge and registration AF69 OND) driving through your township.

We look forward to hearing from you and have a great summer!

Shelagh Parlane - RSPB Corncrake Project Officer, Isle of Skye
07771 545409 or shelagh.parlane@rspb.org.uk
Instagram: @corncrakes_skye