Migratory shorebirds rely on specific high-tide roosts for rest and thermal regulation; human disturbance of these roosts has serious welfare and survival implications.
Shorebird roost disturbance causes welfare harm at the individual level — forced flight is energetically costly and stressful — and population consequences at the landscape scale. During migration, birds are operating on tight energy budgets and need every opportunity to rest and feed efficiently. Each unnecessary roost flush depletes energy reserves that may be critical for completing the migratory journey or surviving subsequent breeding. For birds that have already flown thousands of kilometres and face thousands more, repeated disturbance events at key stopovers can mean the difference between survival and death. The cumulative impact of individually minor-seeming disturbances — a dog walk, a recreational flight, a photographer approaching too close — aggregates to significant welfare harm across a season.