Wild Lapwing Breeding Season Welfare

The northern lapwing is an iconic farmland bird whose breeding success and welfare are severely threatened by modern agricultural intensification.

Key Facts

Lapwing populations in the UK have declined by over 60% since the 1970s, largely due to changes in farming practices.
Lapwings nest on open ground, making eggs and chicks extremely vulnerable to agricultural machinery, predators, and trampling livestock.
Early silage cutting, which has shifted from June to April/May, destroys the majority of nesting attempts before chicks can fledge.
Male lapwings perform elaborate aerial displays and invest significantly in territory defense, indicating high behavioral motivation for breeding.
Agri-environment schemes that create wet grassland and delay cutting have shown measurable improvements in lapwing breeding success.

Welfare Considerations

During the breeding season, lapwings experience intense predator pressure, nest loss from agricultural operations, and the physiological cost of repeated failed nesting attempts. Chicks are precocial but require wet ground to find invertebrate food in the critical first weeks of life. The welfare of adult birds is affected not only by direct disturbance but by the cumulative stress of nest failures and territory challenges. Landscape-scale changes to farming that restore wet grassland habitats offer the best prospects for lapwing welfare and population recovery.

What You Can Do

Support agri-environment funding that incentivises lapwing-friendly farming practices.
Participate in lapwing nest recording through the BTO Nest Record Scheme.
Contact your local wildlife trust to find out about lapwing conservation projects.
If you farm, consider delaying cutting and maintaining some wet or rushy grassland areas.