Corncrake slowly edging back from near-extinction in Switzerland
After coming close to extinction in Switzerland in the 1990s, the Corncrake recorded 17 successful broods in 2025 following three decades of targeted conservation work.
Switzerland recorded a modern high for breeding Corncrakes in 2025, with 17 successful broods confirmed following long-running conservation work to prevent the species disappearing from the country.
The result, highlighted by Ornithomedia from information published by BirdLife Suisse, marks a significant milestone for a bird that had come close to national extinction by the mid-1990s.
Once a familiar sound of summer nights across the Swiss Plateau, the Corncrake has suffered a severe decline as traditional hay meadows have been replaced by more intensive grassland management and earlier, more frequent mowing.
BirdLife Suisse launched its Corncrake conservation project in 1996, when the species was on the brink as a Swiss breeding bird. It was the country’s first conservation programme aimed specifically at a bird species and later helped shape wider national species recovery work.
The first successful broods under the project were recorded in 1998, and Switzerland’s first national action plan for a bird species followed in 1999.
Since then, conservationists have searched for singing males at night, located territories, negotiated with farmers and arranged delayed mowing to give nests and chicks enough time to survive.
The work is demanding because Corncrakes are secretive birds of tall grassland. Males call mainly at night, giving the rasping “crex-crex” song from dense vegetation, while nests and chicks are highly vulnerable to mowing before breeding is complete.
BirdLife Suisse says an average of 19 Corncrakes are now protected each year in Switzerland, with around four successful broods confirmed annually. The 17 successful broods recorded in 2025 therefore represent an exceptional year.
The recovery has depended on cooperation between fieldworkers, farmers, cantonal authorities and game wardens. Once a singing male has been located, the area needed for protection is identified and agreements are made with land managers to delay cutting.
Lucas Lombardo, project leader at BirdLife Suisse, said that without this partnership, protecting Corncrake broods in Switzerland would be impossible.
The species has also shifted in where it breeds. Once widespread in lowland meadows, the Corncrake has now largely vanished from the Swiss Plateau and is increasingly associated with mountain areas. More than 75% of settled singing males are now recorded above 1,000 metres, with the canton of Graubünden becoming the most important refuge.
The reason is closely linked to mowing. Corncrakes need at least eight weeks of uncut grassland to breed successfully, a period that is now rarely available in intensively managed lowland farmland. Even in the mountains, modern agricultural practice often requires direct intervention if nests are to survive.
BirdLife Suisse says the 2025 result shows that targeted conservation can work, but warns that the species remains critically endangered in Switzerland.
The organisation argues that nest protection alone is not enough for long-term recovery, and that the next step must be the creation and maintenance of larger areas of extensively managed grassland suitable for Corncrakes and other meadow wildlife.
Such habitats would also benefit species including Whinchat, Skylark and Meadow Pipit, as well as insects and meadow plants.
New technology may also help future work. BirdLife Suisse reported that thermal-imaging drones were used to detect Corncrakes for the first time in 2025, opening up new possibilities for locating birds and protecting breeding sites.
The 2025 breeding season shows how far Switzerland’s Corncrake conservation work has come since the species approached extinction in the country, while also underlining its continued dependence on late-cut, species-rich grassland.
July 2026
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