Grant is a 'lifeline' for lapwings at Middleton Lakes
A nature reserve has received a £400,000 grant to help encourage breeding lapwings back to the area.
The RSPB said they were once widespread across the region but there had been a "dramatic decline" because of a reduction in habitat.
It will restore and recreate areas of grazing marsh at Middleton Lakes on the Staffordshire-Warwickshire border near Tamworth.
The charity said the project would provide a "lifeline" for the birds.
It said the work to provide 20 hectares of floodplain grazing marsh would give the birds a chance to breed successfully and reverse the decline in their populations.
The project was "essential to the safe future" of lapwings in the West Midlands, the RSPB added.
The £406,000 funding for the RSPB reserve has been awarded by the not-for-profit Viridor Credits Environmental Company which distributes money raised from the Landfill Communities Fund.