Common kestrels, once a familiar sight hovering over roadsides and farmland, have declined sharply in many European countries, raising welfare and conservation concerns.
Kestrels in poor habitat quality areas suffer chronic food stress that reduces breeding success and individual condition. Secondary rodenticide poisoning causes anticoagulant hemorrhaging that kills birds slowly and painfully. Nest disturbance during breeding season causes clutch abandonment and chick death. Urban kestrels benefit from nest box programs that provide critical nest sites, but prey availability remains the limiting factor. The decline of farmland small mammals driven by intensive agriculture represents a population-level welfare crisis with no simple individual-level solution.