The estate remains one of the last strongholds of the Corncrake, they return to the islands every year to breed, having spent the winter in Africa. Its Gaelic name is ‘traon’ which refers to its rasping call, it is often the case that many people will hear a corncrake but never see one as they are very secretive. It is only the males that call as it is used to attract females, at the height of the breeding season the calling can go on continuously for four hours every night. This means that throughout the course of a summer the male will repeat himself between half a million and a million times!
Corncrake numbers have suffered through the mechanisation and intensification of farming in recent years and farmers are now encouraged to manage and cut their crops in a corncrake friendly manner. There are a number of corncrake friendly schemes in operation throughout the estate.
Other Gaelic names for the Corncrake include:
Bramach-roid ‘fast running rasper’
Cleabhair-caoch ‘nutty noisemaker’
Corra-ghoirtean ‘long-legged bird of the little cornfield’
Garra-gart ‘bird of the standing corn/cornfield’
Rac-an-arbhair ‘croaker of the corn’
Rac an fheòir ‘croaker of the grass’
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