The decline of the chough population in Northern Ireland has been attributed to the loss of their habitat due to changing farming practices. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) introduced the Chough Option into specific areas within the Antrim Coast, Glens and Rathlin Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) in 1997 with the aim of maintaining and restoring suitable chough feeding habitat. Monitoring by QUB to determine the effects of the option commenced in 1998 with a baseline survey of vegetation and surface-active invertebrates on a range of fields used by the chough. A resurvey was carried out in 2002 and data compared between years. Results indicate that suitable chough habitat is being maintained with some areas of short sward and the presence of known invertebrate prey items.
02 September 2008
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