A record-breaking number of choughs have made their nests around the Cornish coastline this summer, proving the breed is in “robust health”, a bird conservation charity has said.
RSPB England said 161 choughs had been counted in Cornwall – 32 more than the 129 recorded in 2025.
The charity said the new birds came from 56 successful breeding pairs, meaning the average productivity of a Cornish chough nest was three fledglings.
It said choughs died out in Cornwall in the 1970s but returned in 2001 when three birds believed to be from Ireland landed at Lizard Point and began rebreeding. The National Trust added the success had been down to cooperation between agencies, farmers and landowners.
The birds, part of the carrion crow family, have a particular significance in Cornwall, featuring on the county’s official coat of arms, alongside a miner and a fisherman.
