In winter, curlews leave their breeding moorlands to concentrate on estuaries and coasts. Understanding their winter ecology helps reduce welfare impacts at these critical feeding sites.
Winter curlew welfare depends on undisturbed access to productive estuarine feeding habitat during low tide windows. Each disturbance event that causes the birds to flush to safety costs energy that must be recouped through additional feeding - in severe weather or tidal constraints, this energy balance can become critical. The cumulative effect of repeated disturbance across a winter can compromise individual body condition and spring breeding performance. Respecting curlew disturbance distances at winter estuaries directly protects individual welfare.