Some 145 calling male corncrakes were recorded on the island of Ireland in 2020, according to Liam Loftus, corncrake officer with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).

The number is down on 2019 when 163 corncrakes were recorded. However, Loftus has said that the decrease may be attributed to the lack of access for fieldworkers to the Donegal islands early in the season due to COVID-19. “As a result, the total number on the uninhabited islands may have been under-recorded as the fieldworker was unable to census these locations until late in the breeding season when the majority of males were already paired-up with females and had gone quiet,” he said.

The outlook for the corncrake is looking good in the core areas of Mayo, Galway and Donegal

On the Mullet peninsula in Co Mayo, corncrake numbers increased by more than 50% from 29 males in 2019 to 44 males this year and the total number for Connacht is 75, up from 62 in 2019.

There was also an increase on the Donegal mainland from 28 in 2019 to 32 in 2020. Loftus said Sligo had no confirmed breeding males this year. However, Clare had a bird at the same location as last year and Kerry had a confirmed breeding male this year.

“The outlook for the corncrake is looking good in the core areas of Mayo, Galway and Donegal with the Corncrake LIFE project expected to be under way by the end of the year,” he said.

In Northern Ireland, Rathlin Island is the only place that probable breeding has been confirmed. In 2020, one calling male was recorded on the island, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. In 2019, two breeding males were recorded at two separate sites.