Feature: Rare old bird thrives in middle of "war zone"

They are regarded as an at-risk species of birds. So the last place on earth they should choose to live is in the heart of a noisy "war zone."

Such a location though is giving a breed of bird from the crow family a fighting chance of survival.

Home for this family of chough is a vast area of South West Wales used as a live-ammunition training range by Britain's Ministry of Defence, with "war games" a regular occurrence.

The vast Castlemartin training area in coastal Pembrokeshire is used by all three armed services, army, royal navy and royal air force, for various combat training activities. It includes armored vehicle firing, high speed training in warplanes and the use of military boats.

The roar of jets, and the boom of explosives seems to be no problem for the plucky clough of West Wales.

One of the family members has just passed the age of 21, twice the normal life span for the bird.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) have described the elderly winged resident of Pembrokeshire as the oldest chough in Britain.

He succeeds the previous holder of the record who lived until the age of 20.

The old bird was registered 21 years ago when conservationists from Natural Resources Wales placed a metal ring around his claw to enable a record to be kept.

The RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) gives chough amber list conservation status due to its small and declining population.

A defense ministry spokesman in London said Monday: "Chough are quite rare in the UK with only about 350 breeding pairs in Great Britain and a further 150 breeding pairs on the Isle of Man."

"Living on an active military training area is actually beneficial to many animal and plant species as it reduces the often damaging impact of humans on the landscape and environment," the spokesman said.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), which manages and maintains land which belongs to the MOD, and works to protect wildlife living on its sites.

Major John Nicholl, Senior Training Safety Officer at Castlemartin Training Area, said: "As responsible landowners we work hard to protect the flora and fauna found on our estate so it's fantastic to see chough thriving in this location and one in particular living to such a ripe old age."

The MOD training area spans 2,400 hectares within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Military training takes place 44 weeks of the year, with an exclusion zone of up to 22 km off the coast of Wales, depending on the weaponry or munitions in use. Endit