Common kestrels have declined dramatically across much of Europe and North America due to agricultural intensification that reduces prey availability and nesting habitat.
Kestrel welfare is a story of agricultural system change eliminating the ecological conditions that sustain individual birds. Birds in areas of high agricultural intensity struggle to find adequate prey, spend more energy in unsuccessful hunting, and raise fewer healthy chicks. The cumulative welfare impact is experienced by individual birds working harder for less food in landscapes that have been systematically stripped of the rough grassland margins that made kestrel survival possible. Farm-scale habitat restoration — rough grass margins, meadow areas, nest boxes — provides direct welfare benefits to kestrels living in farmed landscapes.