Wildlife

Wading Bird Chick Welfare Farmland

Wading bird chick survival on farmland depends critically on management practices in the weeks after hatching.

Key Facts

Curlew, lapwing, and redshank chicks are precocial but require feeding habitat near nesting sites
Chick survival is the primary limiting factor in wading bird populations
Wet grassland management providing invertebrate-rich feeding areas improves chick survival
Predator control in nesting areas is a complementary management intervention

Welfare Considerations

Wading bird chicks that hatch without access to invertebrate-rich feeding habitat within their limited movement range face starvation. Modern agricultural intensification has reduced the wet, tussocky, invertebrate-rich grassland that chick survival requires. Management interventions that retain or restore wet grassland with shallow scrapes near nesting sites directly improve chick welfare and population recovery.

What You Can Do

Support agri-environment schemes incentivizing wading bird habitat management
Advocate for wading bird habitat requirements in farmland management programs
Buy from farms with documented wading bird management commitments
Donate to wading bird conservation and habitat restoration organizations