Little Ringed Plover (Little Plover)
Charadrius dubius
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Distribution Britain 421 (+46.2%) Ireland 1 (0%)
Numbers breeding: Britain 950 Ireland 0 European status: 75,000 (1% in Britain and Ireland) British population trend: still increasing and expanding How likely are you to record it? 23 squares (0.5%) Ranked 133= |
The historic record of breeding in Britain by this small inland plover is easy — it didn't! In 1938 a pair of these birds, hitherto rare migrants in Britain, nested at Tring Reservoirs and then, in 1944, there were two and another pair in Middlesex. They have not looked back. Estimates of the population explosion are 100 pairs by 1958, 200 by 1964 and about 400 by 1973. The birds were nesting east of a line from Selsey Bill to the Mersey and North to the Scottish Border. The birds mainly used gravel pits, reservoir and lake shores, sewage works and the gravel beds associated with larger rivers. Now they will even nest in crops or setaside in sandy and gravelly areas like Breckland. Birds have consolidated and extended their range west — but although there are over 50 pairs in Wales, they are still missing from the north-west. Breeding has only occurred about dozen times in Scotland but they should soon become regular and may colonise Ireland quite soon. One cloud on the horizon is the reported displacement of this species from traditional breeding sites by its larger cousin, the Ringed Plover, as they expand inland. Great potential for doubling or trebling the population.
From
The
State of the Nations Birds
Copyright © 2000 by Chris Mead