Improving curlew nesting success through predator management, farmer engagement, and nest monitoring is essential to stabilise the UK breeding population against ongoing declines.
Repeated nesting failure causes chronic welfare costs for curlew breeding pairs through energetic investment in repeated failed attempts and the physiological stress of unsuccessful breeding across successive years. Adults that fail repeatedly may abandon traditional territories, losing the site fidelity that represents decades of habitat knowledge. Effective nest protection through predator management and nest monitoring significantly reduces failure rates. Each successful brood that fledges chicks represents a welfare benefit for both the adults achieving successful reproduction and the chicks that develop to independence rather than dying from predation or starvation.