Farmers, conservationists and the RSPB have worked together to preserve the breeding habitat in fields that has helped the stone curlew survive.
The birds, which winter in Africa, return to Breckland farms in April.
Fields have been specially ploughed for birds to get at worms and insects while plants that attract them line edges.
Those involved in the conservation programme met in Thetford on Friday to celebrate and welcome the arrival back of the birds.
Breeding pair numbers have almost trebled and the RSPB has described the project as pioneering.
Source: RSPB
A bird that was on the road to extinction in its native habitat in the Brecklands of Norfolk and Suffolk is thriving after 30 years of care.