The black-tailed godwit, with its extraordinarily long bill and orange breeding plumage, is one of the most conservation-urgent UK breeding birds. The Icelandic subspecies winters in UK estuaries in large numbers.
Black-tailed godwit welfare operates at two distinct population levels. For the rare UK breeding birds, welfare depends entirely on the management of a very small number of wet grassland sites — primarily the Nene Washes RSPB reserve. Each breeding pair's welfare is individually significant. For the much larger wintering Icelandic population, welfare depends on mudflat quality at major estuaries including the Exe, Avon, Tamar and Severn. These estuaries face development, climate change and sea level pressure. The RSPB's Godwit Recovery Project has focused habitat management at Nene Washes — producing measurable improvement in breeding productivity and individual chick welfare.