Reintroduction of the red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) to Jersey, Channel Islands.
Red-billed choughs (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) are a rarity in the British Isles having a fragmented population of less than 500 breeding pairs. Choughs died out in Jersey, a British Channel Island, at the turn of the 20th century after changes in agricultural practices led to a drastic loss of food sources (i.e. soil and dung invertebrates). Egg collecting and farmers’ general discrimination against corvids also impacted numbers.
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust managed several soft releases of captive-bred choughs (2013 to 2018). Continued post-release veterinary care, close daily monitoring, supplemental feeding, and stakeholder engagement have all contributed to the success. After an absence spanning a century, Jersey once again has a resident chough breeding population and conservation grazing in action along the north coast.
Choughs are the flagship species for a multi-partner project, Birds On The Edge, which aims to restore Jersey’s depleted coastland bird populations through habitat management.