{"id":31862,"date":"2023-11-03T11:47:02","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T10:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/a840da77-c2f4-42f5-be21-6d5a6837f560"},"modified":"2023-11-03T13:40:49","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T12:40:49","slug":"red-billed-choughs-conquer-dover-castle","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/rss_feed\/red-billed-choughs-conquer-dover-castle\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-billed choughs conquer Dover Castle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently released rare red-billed choughs have made it as far as Dover Castle in Kent, and now the sky’s the limit <\/p>

By Maria Hodson\n <\/p>

Published: Friday, 03 November 2023 at 10:47 AM<\/p>

\n\n

In a sign of impending conquest, a couple of red-billed choughs<\/a> have been spotted at Dover Castle<\/a> in Kent, causing jubilation among conservationists.<\/p>

These rare birds<\/a> were released in Dover in July and since their release, they have spread their wings and grown stronger, flying further and exploring new territories.<\/p>

In a poetic moment, two choughs were spied perching on the window ledge of Dover Castle by English Heritage staff.<\/p>

What is a chough?<\/a><\/li>
British crow family guide: identification, habitat and species facts<\/a><\/li>
Podcast: A wild walk with choughs and curlews on Anglesey<\/a><\/li><\/ul>
A pair of rare red-billed choughs peer in to Dover Castle.\/Credit: Colin Wiltshire, English Heritage<\/figcaption><\/figure>
The red-billed chough is a corvid \u2013 a member of the crow family<\/a> \u2013 and boasts a glossy black plumage, bright red beak and red legs.<\/p>
Although the bird became extinct in Kent 200 years ago, the chough has strong connections with the county, appearing on the Canterbury Coat of Arms.<\/p>
Legend has it that the corvid obtained its bright red beak and legs by paddling in the blood of Archbishop Sir Thomas Becket, following his murder by Henry II\u2019s knights in Canterbury Cathedral.<\/p>
$\"\"$
Open wide! A chough chick anticipates feeding time. \/ Credit: Wildwood Trust<\/figcaption><\/figure>
A flock of creche-reared chicks were released in July into a secret chalk grassland location in Dover, in a joint project by Wildwood Trust<\/a> and Kent Wildlife Trust<\/a>.<\/p>
Colin Wiltshire of English Heritage said:\u00a0\u201cWe are delighted to see the choughs making it over to the castle, we have been proud supporters of the project since it began, and this is a milestone moment.\u201d<\/p>
$\"A$
Red billed choughs are known for their distinctive red curved bills and red legs\/Credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Liz Corry, chough supervisor at Wildwood Trust said:\u00a0\u201cChoughs are incredibly intelligent and they have strong personalities, they are inquisitive and sociable.<\/p>
\u201cThey form strong social groups and learn from each other. Since their release, we have watched them work together to chase off buzzards and rally around to warn one another about any nearby peregrine falcon – their natural predator.\u201d<\/p>
So everybody’s ‘chough-ed’ by this latest triumph. Where’s next for the birds, the Tower of London? Maybe the ravens ought to watch out for the new corvids in town…<\/p>
Learn more about Britain’s birds…<\/p>
Seabirds of the UK<\/a><\/li>
Geese to spot in the UK<\/a><\/li>
A guide to brilliant buntings<\/a><\/li><\/ul> <\/body><\/html>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Recently released rare red-billed choughs have made it as far as Dover Castle in Kent, and now the sky’s the limit <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":31863,"template":"","categories":[1,27],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/11\/red-billed-choughs-conquer-dover-castle.jpg",8000,5333,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/11\/red-billed-choughs-conquer-dover-castle-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/11\/red-billed-choughs-conquer-dover-castle-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/11\/red-billed-choughs-conquer-dover-castle-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/11\/red-billed-choughs-conquer-dover-castle-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/11\/red-billed-choughs-conquer-dover-castle-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/11\/red-billed-choughs-conquer-dover-castle.jpg",2048,1365,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Recently released rare red-billed choughs have made it as far as Dover Castle in Kent, and now the sky's the limit","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/31862"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}