Ruffs have one of the most complex mating systems of any bird. Their welfare encompasses the energy costs of elaborate display and the challenges of long-distance migration.
Ruff welfare during lekking involves substantial energy costs - displaying males can spend hours each day in vigorous competition. Habitat degradation that reduces the wet meadow areas used for both lek sites and female nesting means that birds expend display energy without reproductive payoff. Passage ruffs on UK wetlands face the standard refuelling welfare challenges. The near-loss of breeding ruffs from the UK represents a welfare and conservation failure driven by drainage of lowland wet meadows - the same habitat needed by lapwings and snipe.