Badger

Somewhat hapless, waders have been likened to the Baldricks of the bird world! They like to see what is going on around them so they nest in fairly open moorland. This makes them easy prey, particularly on unmanaged moors where stronger and more powerful species have free reign over more vulnerable ones.

The main culprits are the opportunist predators such as the fox, weasel, stoat, rats, all the crow family, as well as roving gulls. Badgers are also predators of ground nesting birds, as are some birds of prey. Whilst some predators can be controlled legally, others cannot. A sustainable balance of predators and prey has to be achieved if the steady decline in waders and other species of ground nesting birds is to be halted.

Goshawk

As wader populations decline, defence mechanisms also become less effective. An example is the lapwing. When nesting in loose colonies the male birds rise up in unison at the approach of a carrion crow or another potential predator and are effective in defending the nests through strength of numbers. When numbers are small or pairs are isolated, defence is ineffective and nests are lost (RSPB Silent Fields 1995)

Unlike declining waders, almost all predators are thriving in the UK, for instance:

• Indices of fox abundance in Scotland show an increase of over 125% between 1960 and 2006
(GWCT)
• Populations of Carrion Crow trebled in Britain between 1962 and 1995 and magpies doubled (CBC data)
• The increase in badger numbers is well known and in many areas they have spread, often onto open moorland

Fox

Within the UK, there has been a dramatic increase in the population of some birds of prey over recent years. Between 1994 and 2000, Goshawk increased by 44% to 410 pairs. By 2000, the common buzzard had 31,100 – 44,000 territories, an increase of 60%. In 2004, the population estimate for pairs of hen harriers had increased by 30% to 806 pairs, and in 2006 there were estimated to be over 1000 pairs of red kite; an increase of 447%

Buzzard

In many places, some species of birds of prey appear to have reached the maximum population density that the habitat can support. In some areas they are actually going into decline, possible owing to a shortage of prey.