Action Plan: Upland Waders

The upland hill areas of Northumberland are important locations for breeding wading birds. Damp pastures and meadows or ‘wet grassland’ is the ideal habitat for these ground nesting birds, with areas of rushy vegetation important to provide cover. Wading species have characteristic bills of differing length which they use to pick small invertebrates out of the mud and soft soil of the wet habitat.

The North Pennines AONB is of significant importance for the populations of wading birds that breed in the area. The RSPB estimates that the AONB is home to upwards of 22,000 pairs of wading birds, making it the most important upland area in England.

Historically, agricultural land has been drained since the 1930s to enable farmers to grow more crops. Flooded meadows are now a rare site in the British countryside and the populations of wading birds dependent on them have declined as a result. The species of particular concern are:

• Curlew
• Dunlin
• Golden Plover
• Lapwing
• Redshank
• Snipe