Corn Crake (Crex crex) Science Article 7
abstract
After a population recovery in 1997, efforts to protect Corncrakes in the Netherlands have increasedrecently. Since 2001, a national conservation scheme is carried out by Vogelbescherming Nederland(BirdLife The Netherlands), SOVON Vogelonderzoek Nederland (Dutch Centre for FieldOrnithology), the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Quality and several localgovernmenmental bodies and various nature conservation agencies. Fieldwork is mainly carried bymore than 150 volunteer birdwatchers. These participate in two simultaneous national censuses (endof May and end of June) and check many of the key breeding sites (Fig. 1) during the rest of theseason. Conservation action focuses on delay of mowing dates until 1 August or later and promotionof