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Breeding Curlews in France Favoured Open Habitats and Shifted Habitat Use Through the Season

Eurasian curlew standing clearly in an open field
Research · Ecology

Eurasian curlews (Numenius arquata) selected open habitats throughout the breeding season, with grasslands playing a particularly important role across five contrasting French breeding populations, according to a GPS study first published on 16 March 2026.

Researchers tracked 64 adult curlews from 2020 to 2024 in five breeding areas with different population trajectories: two declining, two increasing and one stable. They compared space use before incubation, during incubation, while chicks were being reared and before migration.

Home ranges were similar in size but structured differently

Mean home-range size was about 97 hectares and was similar among the five sites. However, space use changed strongly through the breeding cycle: mean home range was about 72 hectares before migration, compared with about 27 hectares during incubation and about 23 hectares while chicks were being reared. The way birds used that space also depended on the landscape around the nest and on the distance between nesting habitat and feeding areas.

Curlews consistently selected open habitats for foraging. Grasslands were favoured for both nesting and feeding at most sites, underlining the importance of open semi-natural agricultural landscapes during the breeding season.

The most strongly declining population used a different nesting habitat

At Monts d’Arrée, the site with the sharpest population decline, all remaining curlews nested in moorland rather than grassland. They then travelled roughly 2–5 km from their nests to reach feeding areas in grasslands and crops. This contrast was one of several signs that habitat use varied with local landscape structure and population context rather than following one identical pattern everywhere.

After incubation, curlews increased their use of crop fields. The authors suggest this may provide additional feeding opportunities as adults prepare for migration, showing that habitat requirements change through the breeding cycle.

Wet grasslands remained a management priority

The study highlights floodplain grasslands as especially valuable for breeding curlews. At the same time, the researchers found that mixed landscapes containing sustainably managed farmland embedded within semi-natural habitats can also provide useful combinations of nesting and feeding areas.

Because curlews move between different resources as breeding progresses, the authors argue that conservation should consider the spatial arrangement of habitats rather than treating each habitat type in isolation. They identify preservation and restoration of wet grasslands as a priority, recommend limiting drainage and grassland improvement that densify vegetation, and suggest timing mowing and grazing to the breeding cycle, with mowing delayed until at least early July.

Sources and image credit

  1. Donnez, M., Joyeux, E., Jiguet, F., Ballot, J.-N., Bienvenut, J., Chartier, A., Debenest, E., Francesiaz, C., Lacondemine, A., Lartigau, C., Le Guen, Y.-M., Maout, J., Pierrefeu, C., Pinaud, D., Terrel, N., & Bocher, P. (2026). Contrasted habitat selection among Eurasian curlew populations according to landscape heterogeneity and breeding stage. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 90(4), e70187. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.70187Primary open-access research article first published 16 March 2026. Sixty-four adult Eurasian curlews were GPS-tracked from 2020 to 2024 in five French breeding populations; mean home range was 97.4 ± 43.6 ha, and birds consistently selected open foraging habitats, especially grasslands.

Image: caroline legg / Wikimedia Commons — Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata) in open farmland in Northumberland, United Kingdom, 28 September 2021. Illustrative photograph, not a GPS-tagged bird from the French study. · CC BY 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ · Source

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