Shorebirds undertake some of the most extraordinary migrations on earth, facing welfare threats from habitat loss at critical stopover sites and direct hunting pressure in some countries.
Shorebirds that cannot find adequate food at degraded stopover habitats face a welfare crisis at a physiological extreme. The metabolic demands of long-distance migration leave no energy margin - birds that cannot refuel at key stopover sites cannot complete their journeys and die. The non-stop flights of species like bar-tailed godwits represent extraordinary physiological achievements that require absolute conditions at stopover sites to be possible. Hunting on wintering grounds or during migration removes individuals in already depleted condition. The collective experience of billions of shorebird lives disrupted by habitat loss represents an enormous welfare catastrophe.