THE RAREST breeding bird in England has returned to the Lower Derwent Valley National Nature Reserve, in East Yorkshire.

And now a last-ditch attempt is under way to save the species from extinction.

The corncrake was once common throughout the country but there are now only two or three pairs which breed in England each year.

It is characterised by a dry, rasping "crex crex" sound which has been likened to a comb being dragged across the edge of a matchbox.

English Nature is working with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Carstairs Countryside Trust, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and local farmers in a desperate attempt to prevent the species becoming extinct.

The corncrake's decline is put down to a loss of its traditional grassland habitats, changes in grass management and attacks from predators and other disturbance.

Tim Dixon, of English Nature, said: "We hope to bring this charismatic bird back from the brink by careful management of the National Nature Reserve so that hearing its rasping nocturnal call will once again become a regular experience in the valley."

English Nature's recently appointed chairman, Dame Barbara Young, said: "This is really exciting news. It's important that we sustain this tiny population of corncrakes and help it to spread to its ancestral haunts.

"The corncrake is a globally threatened species and the work in the Lower Derwent Valley will be a major step in delivering the targets of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan."

The action plan aims to identify threatened species and habitats and formulate action plans improve their chances of survival.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.