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The "crex crex" call of the corncrake was once a familiar sound in the British countryside.

In Ireland, efforts are underway to preserve the call of the corncrake — a small, shy bird related to the coot.

“Older people still talk about coming home from dances in summer nights and hearing the corncrakes calling from the fields all around them,” said Anita Donaghy, assistant head of conservation at Birdwatch Ireland.

These grasslands also support an even more threatened species, a shy, partridge-like bird called the corncrake, which remained silent and unseen.

Among those most at risk are corncrakes, turtle doves, cuckoos, skylarks and nightingales.