Cornwall’s national bird has returned to a medieval castle in the county for the first time in decades in a moment heralded by birdwatchers and mythology fans alike.
Choughs, with their red feet and bills, appear on the Cornish coat of arms in a symbol of their importance to the county. But they vanished from the county altogether more than 50 years ago because of the decline of their grazed clifftop habitat.
Now, they have been spotted for the first time at Tintagel Castle – a place they are strongly connected with through the Arthurian legend.
King Arthur was said to have been conceived at Tintagel and Cornish legend stipulates that he didn’t die after his final battle, but instead turned into a chough. Killing the chough was believed to be unlucky because of this legend.
English Heritage curator Win Scutt said: “People have told stories for centuries about choughs at Tintagel, so to see them here again, at a place so bound up with the legend of Arthur, feels extraordinary. It’s a rare moment where nature and myth seem to meet.”
Choughs have very gradually returned to Cornwall since the start of this millennium, when three birds from southern Ireland arrived on Lizard.
Their return in 2001 was believed to have marked the return of King Arthur after the birds were rendered extinct in the county in 1973. Now there are 250 to 350 breeding pairs in Great Britain, according to the RSPB.
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Their return to Tintagel is considered a success story of recolonisation as choughs have been observed circling and foraging around the castle’s rugged coastline, echoing the myth of the “once and future king”.
Hilary Mitchell and Steve Ashby of Cornwall Birds said that the return of choughs to the castle was a conservation success story.
“This is an amazing conservation success story, testament to the work done by conservation organisations, farmers, landowners and volunteers,” they said. “Their dedication restored habitat essential for our chough to thrive and kept the birds safe so that they could recolonise the Cornish coast.”
Binoculars will be available for visitors to borrow for a chance to spot choughs in the wild. Dolphins, seals, sparrows and pheasants can also be spotted around the Tintagel coastline.
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Tintagel Castle has a long history of wind erosion which has caused gaps to develop in the mortar of the walls. English Heritage said in 2022 that it needed £40,000 to repair the castle as parts of the archaeology have been lost to cliff falls.
The estates director Rob Woodside said at the time: “Erosion along England’s coastline is nothing new but the rate of land loss that we have seen over the past few years is alarming, and some scenarios indicate that sea levels could increase by up to a metre by the end of the century.
“To give this some context, last century sea levels rose by 14cm along the southern coast of England. Climate change is accelerating the issues faced by our coastal heritage and creating huge challenges for organisations, like English Heritage, seeking to protect it. Rising sea levels and more regular storms pose a real risk to the future of many of our sites.”
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