BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Ringed Plover

RINGED PLOVER
Charadrius hiaticula

Ringed Plover © Tommy Holden

Conservation listings

Europe: no SPEC category (concentrated in Europe, conservation status favourable)
UK: amber (25-50% decline in winter population, >20% East Atlantic Flyway population in winter)

Long-term trend

UK: uncertain

Distribution maps

Maps and statistics from British and Irish
atlases can be viewed here.

Status summary

This species was already amber-listed on the strength of its concentration within UK in the winter, but a recent winter decline now also meets the amber criterion. The breeding population is not monitored annually by the BTO, but a BTO survey in 1984 showed increases throughout the UK since the previous survey in 1973/74 (Prater 1989). The breeding distribution spread inland between the two atlas periods, especially in England, probably associated with the increase in number of gravel pits and reservoirs (Gibbons et al. 1993). The 1984 survey revealed that over 25% of the UK population nested on the Western Isles, especially on the machair, where breeding waders have subsequently suffered greatly from predation by introduced hedgehogs (Jackson et al. 2004). Beach-nesting Ringed Plovers, which are very vulnerable to disturbance, were in some regions in 1984 largely confined to wardened reserves. The recent marked increase in nest failures at the egg stage is worrying and warrants further investigation.

Annual breeding population changes for this species
are not currently monitored by BTO

Table of productivity information for Ringed Plover

Variable Period
(yrs) Years Mean
annual
sample Trend Predicted
in first year Predicted
in last year Change Comment

Clutch size 34 1968-2002 85 None

Daily failure rate (eggs) 34 1968-2002 123 Curvilinear 0.0276 nests/day 0.0433 nests/day 0.0157 nests/day

Laying date 34 1968-2002 40 Linear decline day 146 day 138 -8 days

Insufficient data on brood size
available for this species

Insufficient data on nestling failure
available for this species

Laying date graph

Insufficient data on CES
available for this species


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This report should be cited as: Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Crick, H.Q.P., Noble, D.G., Balmer, D.E., Beaven, L.P., Coombes, R.H., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. and Thewlis, R.M. (2005) Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2004. BTO Research Report No. 385. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends) Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 18 January, 2006