The curlew is the UK's most endangered breeding bird, with welfare implications from nest disturbance, predation, and agricultural intensification.
Curlew welfare during breeding is affected by multiple intersecting pressures. Ground nests are lost to silage cutting, livestock trampling, and fox predation at rates that prevent population recovery in many areas. Adults disturbed from nests during incubation expose eggs to temperature extremes, reducing hatching success. Chicks that hatch face immediate predation pressure in agricultural landscapes with reduced invertebrate diversity that limits feeding success. Curlew recovery requires a landscape-scale approach combining predator management, habitat management, and agricultural practice modification — a complex intervention that requires farmer, conservationist, and community cooperation.