The curlew has become the UK's highest-priority bird for conservation with a 65% breeding decline since the 1970s. Its complex annual cycle involves upland moorland breeding and coastal wintering — welfare threats occur at both ends.
Curlew welfare challenges span the entire annual cycle. On breeding grounds, predation pressure from foxes, crows and badgers in fragmented landscapes causes nest failure. Drainage of wet grassland eliminates the earthworm-rich soft soil needed for chick feeding. In the uplands, burning management for grouse affects vegetation structure. Coastal wintering sites face development, disturbance and food availability changes from climate-driven shifts in invertebrate communities. The Curlew Recovery Partnership coordinates recovery efforts across all these threats — a multi-agency approach recognising that single-factor interventions are insufficient for a species facing pressures across its entire range.