Wildlife

Wild Bird: Lapwing Chick Mobility and Survival

Lapwing chicks are mobile within hours of hatching but face high mortality from predation and cold weather during their first weeks of life.

Key Facts

Lapwing chicks are precocial - mobile and able to feed themselves from hatching
Broods of 2-4 chicks are led to feeding areas within 24 hours of hatching
Cold wet weather causes hypothermia in small chicks unable to thermoregulate fully
Predation by foxes, corvids, and gulls is the primary chick mortality cause
Chick survival is highest in fields with short sward adjacent to bare ground feeding areas

Welfare Considerations

Lapwing chick mortality from predation and cold stress represents significant welfare harm occurring at population scale. Chicks that survive predation attempts may be injured or separated from adults, dying slowly from exposure or starvation. Management that provides warm, insect-rich sward adjacent to protective cover reduces exposure to both cold stress and predation.

What You Can Do

Support agri-environment options providing lapwing chick habitat on farmland
Report lapwing nesting and chick activity to local wildlife trusts
Avoid disturbing lapwing chick broods in fields during April-June
Advocate for farmland management that reduces lapwing chick predation
Submit lapwing breeding data to BTO surveys