Chough castle sightings invoke King Arthur legend
It is the first time in decades that the Choughs have been seen at a heritage site where they hold particular significance due to their connection with the legend of King Arthur.
English Heritage said the distinctive red-billed birds had been spotted at Tintagel Castle, the site where King Arthur was conceived according to Cornish legend.
The spirit of King Arthur was said to live in the form of a cough, and when they disappeared from the area in the mid-20th century it was seen as a bad omen; The bird was an important symbol of Cornwall.
Sightings and numbers of mountain crows have been increasing since the 1990s and are spreading into new parts of Cornwall. breeding pair came close to Lizard in 2021.
English Heritage curator Win Scutt said: “People have told stories about the coughs at Tintagel for centuries, so it is extraordinary to see them again here, in a place so linked to Arthurian legend.”
“A rare moment when nature and legend meet,” he added
The charity said that in Arthurian legend, King Arthur was said not to have died but instead went to the mystical island of Avalon or lay in a magical sleep, waiting for the moment when England needed him most.
In Cornish tradition, it was also imagined as resting in the landscape, ready to reemerge when needed.
Since the successful reintroduction of ravens in Cornwall and following significant conservation efforts, More than 100 choughlets born in 2023, 2024 and 2025, according to RSPB.
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