Migratory Bird Welfare During Stopovers

Migratory birds depend on a network of stopover habitats for rest and refuelling, and the degradation of these sites causes significant welfare impacts on billions of birds each year.

Key Facts

Approximately 5 billion birds migrate annually between breeding and wintering grounds in the Americas alone
Migratory birds can lose up to 50% of their body mass during long over-water flights, arriving in critical condition
Key stopover sites including Delaware Bay, the Yellow Sea, and the Wadden Sea support millions of birds during peak migration
The Yellow Sea has lost over 65% of its intertidal habitat through land reclamation in recent decades
Birds arriving at degraded stopover sites with inadequate food may be unable to complete their migration

Welfare Considerations

Stopover habitat loss is a welfare crisis for migratory birds that is largely invisible because it unfolds across continents and seasons. A shorebird that completes a 10,000-kilometre flight only to arrive at a degraded estuary with insufficient food faces starvation at a point of extreme physiological vulnerability. The welfare harm — death by exhaustion and starvation at what should be a rest stop — is real and measurable. Protected stopover habitats are a welfare intervention as much as a conservation one. Decisions made in one country to drain wetlands or develop coastlines have welfare consequences for birds thousands of kilometres away.

What You Can Do

Support international conservation agreements protecting migratory bird stopover sites
Donate to organisations working to preserve key stopover habitats like the Yellow Sea
Oppose development projects that would destroy or degrade known migratory bird stopovers
Participate in citizen science bird monitoring programmes that document stopover use
Advocate for intertidal habitat protection in coastal development planning processes