The pied flycatcher is a striking summer migrant that breeds almost exclusively in oak woodland in Wales and northern England, with welfare linked to caterpillar timing, nest sites, and long-distance migration.
Pied flycatchers face a phenological mismatch problem: climate change is advancing the peak of oak caterpillar availability that their chicks depend on, while the birds' arrival date is constrained by ecological cues in their African wintering grounds. Chicks hatched after the caterpillar peak face reduced food availability and growth. Individual breeding welfare is increasingly compromised by this climate-driven mismatch that management cannot fully compensate for.