Lapwings were once one of Britains most abundant farmland birds but have declined by over 80% since the 1960s. Intensive farming has destroyed the conditions they need to breed successfully.
Agricultural machinery destroys nests and kills chicks that cannot evade approaching equipment. Drainage of wet meadows eliminates the soft ground invertebrate prey on which chicks depend in their first days of life. Chicks that hatch too late miss the peak invertebrate emergence and face starvation. Adults that lose successive broods to repeated nest failures experience chronic reproductive stress. Winter flocks depend on soil invertebrates in rough grassland that has largely been replaced by improved pasture.