What is identified as the primary driver causing severe Whinchat population declines?

Habitat degradation across both breeding and wintering grounds.

The major factor contributing to the significant population declines observed in the Whinchat, including the serious listing in areas like the UK, stems directly from extensive habitat degradation affecting the species across its entire annual cycle. This degradation manifests in different ways across geographies. On the breeding areas in Europe, the cessation or alteration of traditional low-intensity farming, grazing, or controlled burning removes the open, scrubby structure necessary for nesting and foraging, allowing scrub encroachment to make the land unusable. Equally critical is the documented habitat loss occurring on the African wintering grounds, as fewer birds successfully survive the winter and return north, directly impacting the subsequent breeding season's population size. The species’ survival is thus fundamentally dependent on maintaining suitable open habitats across its entire flyway.