The stone curlew is a rare summer visitor to open stony grasslands and arable farmland in southern England, requiring specialized conservation management.
Stone curlew welfare at breeding sites depends on the availability of open bare or sparsely vegetated ground with good visibility. Agricultural operations including ploughing and crop spraying destroy nests when timing coincides with breeding. Nest protection agreements with farmers, creating buffer zones around known nest sites, have significantly improved productivity. Predation by foxes and corvids is a persistent welfare pressure on eggs and chicks. Supplementary feeding sites have been used to distract predators from nesting areas. The species is a flagship for arable conservation farming demonstrating that wildlife welfare and food production can coexist.