THE Forestry Commission has revealed that a once endangered nocturnal bird is making an astonishing come-back in the region.

Results from a national survey of nightjars, carried out last summer, reveal numbers have increased by nearly 250pc over the last 12 years in woodlands in the North York Moors area.

More than 40 volunteers took part in the study, venturing into forests at dusk to record males by listening for their distinctive "churring" mating call.

In total 209 birds were identified, compared with 85 in 1992 and just 45 ten years previously.

Remarkably, a male was discovered in the recently-planted Coatham Wood, near Long Newton, which is being nurtured on former arable land as part of the Tees Forest.

Another "feathered pioneer" was heard for the first time in Guisborough Forest on a recently felled site.

Four birds were also recorded at Silton Forest, near Osmotherley but the real hotspots were Cropton and Dalby forests, between Whitby and Pickering, with a combined total of 93 males.

Conservationists are hailing the figures as a breakthrough. Brian Walker, Forestry Commission Wildlife Officer, said: "We knew numbers were expanding, but the scale of the growth has caught us all by surprise.

"It's hard to imagine that in the 1970s we feared the bird was on the way out in the north.

"These results are a tremendous boost, especially for the volunteers who help monitor bird species in our woodlands."

Traditionally nightjars nested on heathland, but when this type of habitat declined, bird numbers went into a tailspin.

But they began to colonise felled areas in forest plantations, which provide plenty of shelter and insects to eat.

The bird's opportunistic move has convinced the Forestry Commission to maintain a good supply of clear fell sites in key areas.

"We found birds in felled sites and in areas that had been replanted, sometimes with trees up to 14 years old," said Mr Walker.

"The current population level means the region's forests have become a key national stronghold.."

To mark the revival, the Forestry Commission is staging a free nightjar walk for the public in Guisborough Forest on Friday, July 15. Meet on the roadside before Hutton Village at 9pm.