Wildlife Welfare

Wild Pied Flycatcher Welfare Scotland

Pied flycatchers are summer migrants that breed in upland oak woodland, facing welfare challenges from climate change that is advancing caterpillar emergence ahead of their arrival dates.

Key Facts

Pied flycatchers arrive in May from West Africa and breed in upland oak woodland
Caterpillar peak timing for chick provisioning is advancing with spring warming
Pied flycatchers cannot advance migration timing fast enough to track caterpillar advance
UK pied flycatcher populations have declined by 50% since the 1990s in some areas
Nest boxes significantly increase breeding density in suitable woodland habitats

Welfare Considerations

Pied flycatcher chicks provisioned during a caterpillar trough face starvation that causes suffering and mortality. The mismatch between arrival timing and peak food availability is driven by climate change that birds cannot adapt to quickly enough. This represents an ongoing welfare cost of climate change for individual birds that can only be fully addressed through climate action.

What You Can Do

Support climate action to reduce warming that disrupts migration-prey synchrony
Install nest boxes in upland oak woodland to support pied flycatcher breeding
Contribute to Pied Flycatcher Network monitoring schemes