Stone-curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vertebrate > bird > Bird |
| Red List Status: | Vulnerable (Breeding) [VU(br)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Burhinus oedicnemus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Linnaeus, 1758) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Stanbury et al., 2021 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Not covered by national monitoring schemes. Species is dependent on conservation actions. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | targeted management required to reverse species decline; alongside nest interventions. Need dedicated project officer type approach to monitor / find nests and engage landowners. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | This species needs specific targeted habitat creation. Need to find birds / nests to deliver interventions. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - sufficient |
| Species Comments: |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Targeted provision of fallow nesting plots at a suitable scale and spatial arrangement, including via land manager advice and support.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat creation
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites: Wessex, Brecks, Suffolk Coast, North Norfolk Coast
Comments: Note current research on ideal spatial arrangement of fallow nest plots currently being completed to inform this action. Provides benefits to other priority species e.g., Lapwing, Turtle Dove.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Secure appropriate management and restoration/creation of semi-natural habitat (Brecklands heathland/acid grassland and chalk grassland) to ensure this holds a greater proportion of the population.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Advice & support
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites: Wessex, Brecks, Suffolk Coast, North Norfolk Coast
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Develop and trial solutions to address falling rabbit populations on semi-natural habitats (Breckland heathland/acid grassland and calcareous grassland), potentially through an adaptive trial management project to investigate multiple factors (disease, predation, habitat etc…) through experimental study.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 100 sites
High priority sites: Wessex (Salisbury Plain, Porton Down); Brecks
Comments: Current issues in habitat condition for stone-curlew on semi-natural grasslands.
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.