Irish Curlews may become extinct in my lifetime, which is a truly depressing thought. Most curlews seen around Galway Bay are migrants rather than native birds . The reproduction rate for native birds is not sufficient to sustain the population. The National Parks and Wildlife Service have created a Task Force to try to improve the breeding of the curlews. It is still to soon to tell if there efforts will be successful. The curlew above was photographed a couple of yeas ago, near Maree in Galway.