Headstarting boosts population of a threatened wader, the black‐tailed godwit

Abstract

Measures to boost populations can help ensure population persistence in the short‐term while longer‐term conservation interventions take effect. Headstarting, involving the collection of wild early life‐stage individuals, rearing in captivity, and release into a new or existing population once independent, has recently been identified as a potential translocation technique to assist small breeding populations of waders declining due to low levels of productivity. However, the demographic rates of headstarted individuals have not been quantified, and their impact on target populations not understood, which is required to determine the efficacy of this technique as a tool for species recovery. Between 2017 and 2022, headstarting was trialled as a tool to supplement the critically small sub‐population of black‐tailed godwit (Limosa limosa limosa) breeding at the Ouse Washes, Eastern England. We demonstrate that a high survival rate for eggs and chicks can be achieved through artificial incubation and hand‐rearing, and that headstarting can substantially increase the overall productivity of a small population. Using survival analysis and mixed effects modelling, we show that apparent survival and breeding success of headstarted individuals is comparable to wild‐reared conspecifics. The survival rate of released birds was sufficient to significantly boost the breeding population, reaching over five times the number of breeding pairs at the release site during the trial. Providing demographic rates remain the same, the number of godwits breeding at the Ouse Washes is predicted to continue to increase moderately over the next 20 years. This study highlights the potential of headstarting to boost small populations of breeding waders, and demonstrates the value of this technique to assist with the recovery of threatened populations when there is a clear justification that headstarting can negate the effects of population limiting factors.