Many ground-nesting birds are on the ‘red list’ of birds that need urgent action to stop them from dying out. On Cowbar, these Red List birds include lapwings, curlews, and skylarks. We also have stonechats which nest close to or on the ground, plus pheasant, quail and meadow pipits.
Please help rare ground nesting birds survive on Cowbar by staying on the main tracks and keeping dogs on a lead.
Ground-nesting birds are well camouflaged and it’s easy for dogs or people to accidentally trample eggs or scare adult birds off their nests.
When disturbed, ground-nesting bird can end up spending more time off the nest than on it, which has tragic consequences:
- Birds failing to lay eggs
- Eggs chilling and failing to hatch
- Chicks dying from cold or lack of food
- Eggs and chicks being eaten by predators, including crows and jackdaws. If alerted by the signs and calls of a distressed parent, they’ll seize their chance to snatch any young or eggs.
Thank you for keeping your dog on their lead on nature reserves, open-access land and anywhere signed between 1 March – 31 July (bird breeding season). Many people don’t realise, but this is actually the law as well as the Countryside Code
You can help to protect not just ground nesting birds but other vulnerable creatures like common lizards, brown hares, roe deer and delicate wildflowers while you enjoy the countryside.
