Wading birds including lapwing, curlew, redshank, and snipe have declined dramatically in Britain, with welfare implications from habitat loss and agricultural intensification.
Wader bird welfare at the individual level involves the direct consequences of habitat quality on individual birds and their breeding success. Lapwing pairs nesting in intensively managed fields face nest destruction from farm machinery, chick mortality from predation in unsuitable habitat, and failure to find adequate invertebrate food in nutrient-poor farmland. The welfare of individual waders is directly linked to the quality of the farmland landscape surrounding them. Agri-environment schemes that create suitable nesting and feeding habitat produce measurable welfare improvements through increased breeding success and reduced chick mortality.