The curlew is Britain's most urgent bird conservation priority with breeding populations fallen by 48% since the 1990s, facing predation pressure, habitat degradation, and land use change.
Curlew pairs that fail repeated nesting attempts through predation expend enormous energy reserves on failed reproductive attempts. Chicks that survive predation of siblings face reduced parent attention. Habitat degradation that reduces wet meadow invertebrate availability forces birds to travel farther for food. Individual curlew can live 30+ years and form long-term pair bonds, meaning welfare impacts of habitat loss accumulate over years.