A bird species, nearly extinct in England in the 1960s, has seen numbers triple in three years at a Cambridgeshire wetland centre.

The number of calling corncrakes at WWT Welney has significantly increased due to a reintroduction scheme.

The corncrake is a petite bird initially found across most of the UK, but now almost entirely vanished, except for the western islands of Scotland.

In 2021, the Wetland and Wildfowl Trust (WWT), a wetland restoration charity, was invited to launch a new release site at WWT Welney for a recovery project involving several conservation societies.

Corncrake chick at WWT Welney Corncrake chick at WWT Welney (Image: WWT - Billy Heaney)

Describing the importance of the scheme, conservation breeding and monitoring officer Emilie Fox-Teece said: “Having gone more or less extinct from England in the 1960s it’s amazing to hear corncrakes back on the Ouse Washes where they belong.

“Corncrakes rely on wet grassland to breed and raise their young, and this project is the perfect example of how using headstarting and habitat management together can restore lost wonders to our wetlands.”

The corncrake population at the site has grown from a measly three males in 2021 to a minimum of nine in 2024, with a nearly equal number of female birds believed to be present.

These birds have thrived in the wild, successfully migrating to sub-Saharan Africa and back, and returning to the exact site of their primary release.

Corncrake caught on the Ouse Washes Corncrake caught on the Ouse Washes (Image: WWT - Kane Brides)

Since 2021, WWT has released 300 birds into the wild to augment the population.

While the absolute figures of returning birds remain somewhat low, they are on an upward trend.

A community of 30-50 pairs is expected to sustain itself.

If the corncrake population continues to grow through reintroduction, the birds may start to repopulate the area independently.

However, this would assume that the wet grassland habitats they rely on for breeding are effectively managed.