The ring ouzel — the mountain blackbird — is a summer migrant to UK upland moorland. With a 55% decline since 1995 and limited population monitoring, its welfare on both breeding and wintering grounds is poorly understood.
Ring ouzel welfare on upland breeding grounds is affected by vegetation changes driven by grazing management, climate and bracken spread. The species requires a mosaic of short grazed turf for foraging (earthworms and invertebrates), rocky outcrops for nest sites, and bilberry for food. Changes in sheep grazing pressure — both overgrazing that removes bilberry and undergrazing that allows rank grass — affect habitat quality. Climate change driving vegetation changes at altitude may affect the precise habitat conditions ring ouzels require. On Mediterranean wintering grounds, habitat loss to development in olive groves and scrubby hillsides used by wintering thrushes is a welfare concern.