In this chapter, we describe habitat requirements of breeding waders (also known as meadow birds) on lowland grasslands in western and north western Europe. Eight wader species breed on lowland wet grassland in this region: oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus, lapwing Vanellus vanellus, dunlin Calidris alpina, ruff Philomachus pugnax, snipe Gallinago gallinago, black-tailed godwit Limosa l. limosa, curlew Numenius arquata and redshank Tringa totanus. Populations of most of these species have declined on lowland wet grassland in recent decades (Stanbury et al., 2000; Henderson et al., 2002; BirdLife International, 2004; Thorup, 2004; Wilson et al., 2005). The habitat requirements of several of these species have been well studied, mainly with the aim of diagnosing causes of their population declines and testing solutions for improving habitat quality. We describe the results of this research, and how they have been used to inform land management. In contrast, the habitat requirements of most other bird species on lowland wet grassland have received little attention, with the exception of those of wildfowl. For a general account of the wider breeding and wintering bird assemblages of wet grassland see Fuller (1982).

Two aspects of habitat quality are particularly significant to breeding waders. The first is the importance of agricultural management in affecting habitat suitability. The second is that breeding productivity can be strongly influenced by land management carried out after birds have settled to nest. Hence, there is the potential for birds to settle in areas that are initially of high quality, but which turn out to be of low quality because of subsequent management decisions, i.e. an ecological trap (Chapter 1).