Curlew Four Times as Likely to Fledge Chicks Successfully on a Grouse Moor

Paper: Lethal predator control on UK moorland is associated with high breeding success of curlew, a globally near-threatened wader

The UK is home to a quarter of the world’s Eurasian curlew population - but numbers have halved in recent decades. A major study has looked at why this iconic wading bird is struggling to breed.

Researchers compared 18 areas of UK moorland and farmland, pairing sites with and without active gamekeeping. On grouse moors - where predators like foxes and crows are legally controlled - curlew breeding success was much higher.

The results were striking:

• Curlew pairs on grouse moors raised four times more chicks than those on non-grouse moors (1.05 vs. 0.27 fledglings per pair).

• Wader numbers were twice as high on grouse moors overall.

• Predators such as foxes and corvids were three to four times fewer on managed moors.

Importantly, breeding success was linked to predator numbers, not habitat or grazing conditions.

Other wading birds, including lapwing and golden plover, showed similar benefits where predator control took place. Nest and chick monitoring backed up these findings.

The study concludes that grouse moors are vital “source” areas, helping to slow the national decline of curlews. It recommends continuing legal predator control and developing long-term land use policies that discourage high predator densities.

Takeaway: For those managing or living on moorland, this research highlights the essential role traditional predator control plays in curlew recovery and the wider health of upland bird populations.

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