Abstract

The last 15 years has seen multiple conservation translocations of avian species in the UK, alongside which there has been a proliferation in the number of terms used to describe these interventions (previously commonly referred to under the umbrella of reintroductions). One term which has seen significant uptake is headstarting – a technique originally coined for marine turtle conservation in the 1970s. Headstarting projects attempt to boost wild populations by human-rearing either captive-bred or wild born animals through their most vulnerable (early) life stages before releasing them. This talk focuses on four species that have been, or have been described as being, subject to headstarting projects in the UK: curlew, crane, corncrake and black-tailed godwit. Reintroduction projects have often been accused of ‘facing backwards’ with an overreliance on ambiguous historical baselines. Whereas I argue that headstarting projects focus’ is firmly on divergent futures. Headstarting is often justified because of its perceived ability to hold open possibilities for future avian presence, despite ongoing massive declines. These future-based justifications serve to partially obscure the actual causes of bird declines, while potentially masking ongoing injustices contained within headstarting projects themselves.