To celebrate the beginning of spring in the Gaelic calendar, ornithologist Seán Ronayne is across the schedule on RTÉ lyric fm with a new series to discuss the distinct bird songs, melodies and calls that we have today in Ireland. Listen to Sean celebrating the corncrake above...
About The Corncrake: Their latin name of Crex crex lends itself to the onomatopoeic crex calls they call from ground cover. A sharp sound - like that of a thumb rolling over a rigid comb.
Corncrakes were once very common in Ireland - so common that people used to bemoan them from Mizen to Malin for the racket they'd make throughout the balmy summer nights of times spent. There was even an old Irish curse named after them, which translates to "May you have the sleep of the corncrake", such was their presence throughout Ireland. It’s hard to imagine that landscape of sound today.
Typically silent by day, as soon as the sun falls, they unleash their insisting crexing calls, up to 20,000 per night, peaking at 3am. Our corncrakes took a steep decline from the intensification of our agricultural practices in the 1970s, but they’re still just about clinging on, and thanks to conservation efforts, their numbers are slowly growing.
Bird Songs with Seán Ronayne, RTÉ lyric fm, February 1st – 16th - listen back here
