When and why to give shorebirds a head start

Headstarting is a translocation technique involving the hatching or rearing of wild eggs or young in captivity and the release of those individuals back to the wild at or before independence. It has been trialed as a conservation intervention for shorebirds over recent decades to improve the population trend of target populations by increasing survival during the vulnerable early-life stages. We used a population modeling approach to frame an exploration of the circumstances in which headstarting can be a valuable tool and why. Our models demonstrate that headstarting can result in order-of-magnitude increases in per capita productivity of shorebirds, which could lead to substantial increases in population productivity and, in turn, improvements in population trend. However, headstarting shorebirds can be challenging and expensive, and therefore, it is not a conservation panacea. We used recent examples of shorebird headstarting projects to illustrate 3 main scenarios in which headstarting can be an appropriate intervention: when there is a need to buy time while conservation measures are identified and take effect; recovery of very small populations must be accelerated; and colonization of new or improved habitat requires assistance. Headstarting does not directly address the drivers of shorebird decline and thus is not a long-term solution, although this is similarly true of other conservation interventions, which also have risk and cost considerations that should be weighed in estimations of potential gain. Headstarting is a valuable conservation tool for shorebirds that should be embedded in general recovery plans that deliver more sustainable solutions.